President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address and Immigration

What a speech it was. The president used his speech to highlight the controversial issue of illegal immigration, we hope the main focus of the federal government should be on developing a plan that would allow undocumented immigrants to become legal residents, rather than deporting them. The President stated:

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. 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. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.

We hope that the President is committed to a comprehensive immigration reform. His executive actions in 2012 are positive signs for many undocumented immigrants already in the United States. It remains to be seen what other action he may take in 2013.