WHEN will Immigration Reform Pass?

Los Angeles is full of immigrants. California is a home to people from many nations. Romben Law, APC in Hollywood has clients from everywhere, and we get calls and inquiries from people all over the world. With all the talk about illegal aliens, unemployment, and the new “breathing-while-brown” law in Arizona, I keep getting one big question.

“WHEN will a comprehensive immigration law pass?”

I wish I could say that I am so god-like that I am always right. Most attorneys don’t like being wrong — and our clients do not like it, either, to tell the truth. If someone asked me six months ago whether immigration reform would pass, I would have said, “I think a new immigration law — perhaps including a legalization program, the DREAM Act for young people who were brought to the USA by their parents, and a program to allow same-sex couples to immigrate on a similar basis to married couples — will pass by the end of 2010.”

I must confess that the political mess in Washington and the “culture of no” so internalized in the Republican Party has made the passage of comprehensive immigration reform unlikely by the end of the year. Could it happen? Yes. Is it likely? I don’t think so.

I realize that this is a grave disappointment to immigrants, many of whom want to legalize and come out of the shadows, want to work legally and pay taxes, want to petition their relatives so that their families can be united. Unfortunately, I can only urge all US citizens and Legal Permanent Residents to write — don’t call, don’t e-mail — to their Congressperson and to their two US Senators to urge the passage of comprehensive immigration reform soon.

And cross your fingers. –jcf