New energy appears to be focused on fixing the broken America immigration system following the re-election of President Barack Obama in November and the existential crisis being played out in the Republican Party. So what can the United States expect to take place this year?
Overtures from the Republican Party would appear to be all but a given in 2013. That the Republican’s message on immigration will change is now inevitable, with the dismal performance among Asian and Latino Americans by their Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney serving as a wake-up call that the Party faces a grim future unless it begins to change its ways.
Another thing to expect in 2013 is that a pathway to US citizenship will start to be created, with the Dream Act – or a version of it, at least – likely to pass this year. Although blanket amnesty seems to be an unpopular idea with the great majority of Americans and a rather unrealistic option, it seems likely that a mechanism will be created to allow illegal immigrants to be able to earn their citizenship status over a certain period of time. Grassroots Latino advocacy movements have also started to realize that they have strength in numbers and are beginning to wield their newfound power in order to get results.
The tide, quite simply, seems to be turning. “This comprehensive immigration reform for the Latino community is personal,” notes the executive director of Voto Latino, Maria Teresa Kumar. “If they (Congress) are not with us, 2014 may not look pretty with them.”