Please read and rate the comments to this article, it looks like even
the liberals in San Francisco are starting to understand the problem.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 14GCBT.DTL

On Jan. 20, President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress will have their hands full with two wars and the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression. It will be easy to overlook a problem that received relatively little attention during the presidential campaign: the need to develop an immigration policy that acknowledges the reality that our economy depends on immigrant workers - far more than current law allows - and the presence of an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants whose precarious status needs to be resolved.

History has shown us that the issue of illegal immigration cannot be solved by enforcement alone. This nation simply can't build a border fence high enough - or raid workplaces frequently enough - to offset the lure of jobs and opportunity, as long as there is such a wide disparity in prosperity between Mexico and the United States. The downturn in the U.S. economy may have lightened immigration pressures for the moment, but there is no doubt it will return when conditions improve.

The election of Obama, who received a strong majority of Latino votes, offers hope that Washington might once again wade into an issue that has stalled in recent years against waves of fear and demagoguery.

Even with the enhanced Democratic numbers in the House and Senate, however, a reform package would encounter major hurdles. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that any immigration-reform legislation would require significant Republican support.

In his campaign platform, Obama laid out a balanced and pragmatic vision of reform that made border security a priority while recognizing the need to meet the demand for jobs and provide a pathway to citizenship for otherwise law-abiding undocumented workers who are already here. Obama's plan would require them to pay a fine and learn English before getting in line for citizenship. Obama has suggested a six-year waiting period for such immigrants.

"In exchange for accepting those penalties, we must allow undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and step on a path toward full participation in our society," Obama said in an April 2006 speech that offered an expansive look at his views on immigration. "In fact, I will not support any bill that does not provide this earned path to citizenship for the undocumented population - not just for humanitarian reasons; not just because these people, having broken the law, did so for the best of motives, to provide a better life for their children and grandchildren; but also because this is the only practical way we can get a handle on the population that is within our borders right now."

His choice of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security chief could help invigorate the immigration debate. As a border-state governor and former U.S. attorney, she has strong credentials on the issue, with a pragmatic approach that blends toughness and compassion.

For example, she has been a critic of the fence and has ordered National Guard troops to patrol the border; she has advocated a crackdown on employers who hire illegal immigrants and has supported a pathway to citizenship. "Don't label me soft on immigration," she wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece last year.

Immigration reform has tended to break down on Capitol Hill when its provisions become cumbersome and impractical, leaving both sides unsatisfied. Examples include the "touch back" provision that would require heads of households to return to their country of origin before qualifying for a green card; overly complex point systems to establish which workers would qualify for green cards; and proposed temporary-visa systems that require immigrants to cycle back and forth between the United States and their countries of origin.

No one expects Obama to put immigration reform on his 100-day list. But it would be a great waste if this president-elect, with his sensible and practical approach, does not apply his considerable skills to resolving this stalemate during his first term.

This article appeared on page G - 10 of the San Francisco Chronicle