Potential Comprehensive Immigration Reform Under a New Administration

Although the economy is currently dominating political discussions, Immigration continues to be one of the hottest domestic policy issues. Indeed, it has been one of the key issues for the Bush Administration, and both Senators Obama and McCain were leaders in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform debate. So what do we expect from the next Administration? We believe there will be an effort to effectuate significant immigration reform in enforcement, compliance and improved technology, based on the fact that the Obama and the McCain camps both agree that immigration reform is imperative. However, the candidates’ timeline for these reforms might be a little different.

An Obama administration plan may move more swiftly through Congress, especially given anticipated gains in
Democratic seats in both the House of Representatives and Senate. If the Democrats do gain a substantial number of seats in Congress, an Obama Administration will likely have an easier time pushing its version of comprehensive immigration reform through Congress. Obama’s plan focuses on creating secure borders, improving the immigration system, removing incentives to enter the U.S. illegally and working directly with Mexico. Additionally, during an Obama presidency, Unions will most probably play a much larger role in shaping overall policy.

If Senator McCain is elected the next President of the United States, we may see a resurrection of the old McCain-Kennedy bill from the 106th Congress. McCain would probably wait at least a year, if not more, before tackling major immigration reform and may settle for a few smaller changes until he is ready to address immigration issues on a full scale basis. McCain’s stated first priority would be securing U.S. borders. Once that is accomplished, McCain’s plan would address prosecuting “bad-actor” employers, meeting America’s labor needs, addressing undocumented aliens currently residing in the U.S. and eliminating the backlog of family members patiently waiting to rejoin their families who live in the U.S. The good news is that both candidates are committed to significant immigration reforms. Additionally, they both supported reform from the legislative side, and may fare much better than the current Administration when working with their former colleagues on the Hill.

The materials contained in this newsletter or on the Greenberg Traurig LLP website are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Receipt of any GT email newsletter or browsing the GT Immigration website does not establish an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2001-2008 Greenberg Traurig All Rights Reserved.