FORT WORTH -- President Barack Obama will unveil his sweeping plan on immigration today in the midst of a rapidly shifting political environment. It's his most ambitious move yet on the emotionally divisive issue after making a series of smaller steps over the past year.
Obama first came into office on the heels of Washington's failure to overhaul the nation's immigration laws. Those failures in 2006 and 2007 led many cities and states to adopt their own regulations to drive out illegal immigrants.But exit polls find that views are changing, and a growing Latino electorate has emerged as a powerful force.The political landscape has shifted so much that even before this latest proposal, the White House has been able to quietly unveil several policy changes that undercut communities' ability to enforce federal immigration laws and that allow more illegal immigrants to remain in the country. Meanwhile, states are taking steps to welcome illegal immigrants by, among other things, allowing them to drive."The tide is turning," said Frank Sharry, the executive director of America's Voice, which advocates for comprehensive immigration legislation. "People sort of picked up on little pieces of it, but they're not sure whether they believe it."Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have taken notice. And both Democrats and Republicans see the debate as critical to their political futures: Obama sees immigration as a signature issue that he feels could help him define his legacy; Republicans see immigration as a way to appeal to Latinos and help pull the party out of the political wilderness.On Monday, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators got ahead of the president's announcement by presenting its own immigration plan, though it is similar to past proposals that have failed.The key elements are expected to closely align with the plan the president will unveil today on a special trip to Las Vegas. The White House called the Senate proposal a "big deal" because it embraces a path to citizenship."This is an important development," Press Secretary Jay Carney said. "This is in keeping with the principles the president has been espousing for a long time, in keeping with bipartisan efforts in the past, and with the effort this president believes has to end in a law that he can sign."But quietly, a series of administration policy changes in recent months already has begun to transform how illegal immigrants live, work and go to school in the United States.In addition to last summer's announcement to defer deportations and give work permits to hundreds of thousands of undocumented youth, the White House announced last month that it was going to make legal permanent residency easier for many illegal immigrants who are immediate relatives of American citizens.The Department of Homeland Security also announced it will no longer scoop up undocumented immigrants arrested for minor offenses such as traffic tickets, and that it is phasing out a controversial but popular program, known as 287(g), which granted police and sheriff's deputies the power to start the deportation process on arrested illegal immigrants.Fort Worth impactReaction around the country has been mixed. Many undocumented immigrants, like 25-year-old Sandra Tovar of Fort Worth, are trying to be optimistic, but they also are wary.Tovar, who recently received deferred action on deportation, remembers the multiple failed efforts to overhaul immigration law. The consequences included a wave of anti-illegal immigrant sentiment in local communities.States such as Arizona, Alabama and Georgia implemented their own strong immigration laws geared toward encouraging undocumented immigrants to leave. Several more communities in Texas, Florida and North Carolina, among others, joined the 287(g) program. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, nearly 60 local law enforcement agencies in 21 states operated the program.On a recent evening, Tovar joined other advocates in strategy sessions at the Catholic Men's Club in north Fort Worth, near the historic Stockyards, which is home to long-established Mexican-American families."There's still that feeling of not knowing what is going to happen and being afraid," she said at the club Thursday. "We know it can be everything or nothing."'I was never afraid'Tovar was a self-described "dreamer" or an undocumented youth raised in the United States. Growing up in north Fort Worth, she often wondered how she could change her plight - even going as far as asking teachers for help."I always knew about my undocumented status," she said. "I was never afraid."Tovar attended Texas A&M University with the help of scholarships. She earned a bachelor of science degree in May 2011. But without a legal status, she had to clean houses to earn money.Tovar applied for deferred action in September. In December, she got an approval letter. This month, she is working on getting a Texas Driver's license and a job."We are still not able to receive all benefits that someone with residency gets," she said. "We are still undocumented, but documented. We call ourselves, 'DACAmented.'"That latter term refers to a combination of deferred action and documented, Tovar explained.Karina Velazquez, 17, a senior at Fort Worth's Northside High School, said many immigrants talked positively about Obama. The actions he has taken to help immigrants haven't gone unnoticed."He had just given us that hope for immigration reform," she said.Velazaquez was 3 when her family came from Guanajuato to Fort Worth. She recently applied for deferred action and is trying to help other immigrants."I decided to take action," she said. "I didn't want to sit back and just benefit from others' hard work."Arizona rulingsMost everyone agrees immigration reform is needed, according to Rosemary Jenks, director of government affairs for NumbersUSA, which advocates for greater enforcement.But the public is not ready for legislation that includes "meaningless enforcement measures," she said.It's not just Obama's policies and the Senate agreement that are effecting change for illegal immigrants.Sharry of America's Voice says the trend dates back to last summer, with the historic Supreme Court decision striking down much of Arizona's controversial law.The court upheld the "show me your papers" requirement mandating law enforcement officers to check the status of people stopped for various reasons who might appear to be in the U.S. illegally.But it threw out other provisions of the law, such as requiring immigrants to obtain or carry immigration registration papers.The decision was followed by Obama granting deferred action to hundreds of thousands of undocumented youth.In last fall's election, 71 percent of Latinos voted for Obama, according to exit polls. Diane Smith, 817-390-7675Twitter: @dianeasmith1Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
