President Barack Obama's language during his inauguration speech gave the U.S. a glimpse of his apparent intentions to move forward on long-awaited reforms to the country's immigration system.
"Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country," Obama said during his speech.
Obama rode into office in January 2009 with immigration reform as one of his priorities, but critics have claimed that the president failed to take the lead on immigration policy changes and deportations have increased under his administration.
However, the Obama administration proposed sweeping new legislation earlier this month that would offer a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants within the U.S., to be met under certain conditions, while also changing current immigration laws in order to allow immigrants with family members in the country to stay under an extended amount of time while applying for citizenship.
According to a recent CNN Poll, 53 percent of Americans polled say that the government should be focusing on immigration reform--particularly a plan that would allow undocumented immigrants to become legal citizens--as a main focus.
Roughly 43 percent say the government should focus more on deportation and border enforcement.
The main hurdle towards comprehensive immigration reform is still the partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans on the matter.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is coming up with his own immigration reform plan that involves granting immigrants temporary legal status while having them undergo background tests and pass several stringent test in order to gain permanent residency.
Meanwhile, immigrants across the country will undoubtedly pay close attention as to whether or not the immigration reform that they have looked forward to for so long will indeed become reality.
"We need this president to push as hard as he can, because Latinos care about immigration and the election showed it," Erika Andiola, a well-known immigrant rights activist in Arizona, told CBS News this week. "Our families can no longer be separated."
Andiola, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, made headlines recently when immigration officers arrested her mother and brother during a night visit to their home in Mesa, Ariz.
"Give us a chance to be in the country -- to give back to the country. I think a lot of us have a lot to contribute," Andiola said.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
