OPINION: OBAMA MISSING KEY ELEMENTS OF REFORM IN HIS IMMIGRATION REFORM

President Obama's recent speech on Immigration Reform fell short of anything resembling a plan of action. In typical political fashion, the President stated America's immigration system was broken, stating there are 11 million undocumented immigrants in the world. The president than focused his speech on specific areas of immigration, such as emphasizing the majority of undocumented immigrants are contributing members of society, while also taking credit for the significant reduction in illegal border crossings (80%). He gave other facts such as 1 in 4 immigrants complete high tech startups or are small business owners. President Obama then laid out what he deemed the "three principles of immigration reform", which I feel many Americans would agree with, but President Obama failed to provide a plan of action for how the Federal government will achieve these principles. These principles included:

1. Strengthening security and enforcement which was broken into several components. The first component involves cracking down on those companies and employers who hire undocumented workers. Doing so creates an unfair competition between those hiring undocumented individuals and companies who hire U.S. citizens. The second component addresses enforcement and involves "dealing with those who are already here illegally". 
2. Creating a pathway to citizenship was the second principle Obama outlined. It is no secret that achieving U.S. citizenship can be a very long, tedious process. According to the U.S. Citizenship website, it can take anywhere from 5 months to 2 years for individuals to gain citizenship.
3. The third principle Obama outlined was the need for improvements in the legal immigration system. The immigration system currently operating in America is not functioning as it should. The system needs to be updated to reflect the technology and capabilities of society today. 

While each of these principles are in my opinion, necessary for immigration reform it would have been more substantial if President Obama had laid out a plan if action to implement these principles. The speech seemed as though The President placed the responsibility on Congress to develop new, useful legislation regarding immigration. Although Congress is more than likely capable of this task, it is always encouraging to see The President standing behind his political agenda, rolling up his sleeves, working alongside Congress to tackle immigration reform, and leading this country in a positive direction.

 http://www.uscitizenship.info/ins-citizenship-process.html