Is immigration really a priority for the next President?

On Saturday, before an audience of about 700 Hispanics attending the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) [www.naleo.org] conference, both presidential candidates said that immigration is one of their top priorities. Both candidates support a path to citizenship for those in the US illegally. Senator McCain co-sponsored legislation that would have overhauled the immigration system and improved border security but while campaigning to become the Republican nominee the senator backed off the reforms saying that the focus should be on securing the borders before any other reforms.

Both candidates know the importance of the Hispanic vote and will be courting Hispanic voters heavily in the coming months. Hispanics voters will play key roles in states with large number of Spanish peaking voters including the battleground states of Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico. A recent poll, done by AP-Yahoo News, shows Obama leading McCain among Hispanic voters. Something the next President should consider is the amount of money the U.S. is investing to secure our southern borders and how much is the Mexican investment. Canada’s investment in securing the US-Canadian border and working with the US helps to keep both countries safer. Going forward, part of the immigration policy should be to work with both Canada and Mexico and understand what national security efforts they are employing.