Obama, Hispanic Dems to huddle on immigration

[AlphaCentauri]

Hispanic Democrats will have their first West Wing meeting with President Obama on Wednesday morning to discuss immigration reform, according to Democratic sources.

The meeting is the first face-to-face sit-down between Obama and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) since the president was sworn in. Some in the CHC have recently expressed frustration that Obama has not talked more about immigration in his first two months in office.

Immigration reform is front-and-center on the group’s agenda.

CHC is eager to hear the president’s ideas and proposals for tackling immigration reform, not only regarding a comprehensive reform bill that could provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented workers but also as it relates to rolling back Bush administration policies of raiding workplaces and detaining and deporting thousands of illegal workers.

CHC members came away from a recent meeting in the Capitol with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano — a day after her Senate confirmation hearing — very encouraged that the workplace-raids policy would be fully reviewed and possibly altered.

Yet, CHC has expressed frustration that Obama has not yet gotten the message on how damaging the raids are to Hispanic communities across the country.

CHC has made the raids and their human cost the new focus of its immigration reform push, although a comprehensive reform bill remains very much a priority for the group, and one that it is encouraging Obama to push.

Hispanic Democrats are continuing their nationwide tour of cities where raids have been conducted to drum up public support for curtailing the practice. During an event in San Francisco earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the raids “un-American" and spoke out on the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-hispanic-dems-to-huddle-on-immigration-reform-2009-03-17.html