An immigration reform activist finds it interesting that the Obama administration is holding a hearing later today on supposed "comprehensive immigration reform" without inviting representatives who oppose amnesty.
The White House plans to host a discussion on immigration with advocates, faith-based groups, businesses, and law enforcement officials. An administration official says that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will lead the discussion. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting is not public. Ira Mehlman is a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) -- an organization that was not invited to the gathering. "Whatever happened to President Obama's promise of greater transparency in government?" he asks. "There seems to be an awful lot of meetings with one side on this issue where they discuss what they already agree upon amongst themselves, but they don't really want much input from people who have a differing point of view," he points out. Last week, President Obama said while immigration reform is important, other priorities like healthcare overhaul and financial regulation are on the front burners. Mehlman says the longer it takes for Congress to get to the immigration issue, the better. "Certainly as you get closer to the election, especially as Congress has come through the bruising battles on healthcare reform, on financial stability reform and all sorts of issues, there's going to be a certain fatigue there among members of Congress and certainly some concern about how the voters are going to be feeling come November 2010," he adds. Still the president said he expects to see draft legislation for an immigration overhaul by the end of the year, with changing the system waiting until next year. Therefore, Mehlman says FAIR will continue to take this issue seriously.
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