White House Hosts Meeting on Immigration
"By having strong senators and congressmen on the other side of this issue," Beck says, Obama "will be able to say, 'Hey, look, see how hard this is going to be? See how far apart we are?' "
On the other hand, Beck wonders if including both sides means that Obama is really serious about changes in immigration policy, since winning over Republicans is the only way it will happen. Immigrant advocates say the strong Latino vote for Obama last fall also makes it more important that he address the issue. Still, given that new immigration plans failed twice in Congress in recent years, Beck says the safe bet is that the president won't press for much anytime soon.
"He's trying hard to be kind to this lobby, but they're asking him to sort of commit political suicide," Beck says. "And they're saying unless you commit political suicide — 'we're not going to vote for you next time.' Well, that's crazy." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105855748