Janet Napolitano: Legalization a hard sell

By JOSH GERSTEIN | 5/19/09 6:52 PM EDT


Janet Napolitano acknowledges that the economic downturn has made legalization of illegal immigrants tougher to sell to the American public.




As immigrants’ rights groups are pressing President Barack Obama to step up efforts at comprehensive reform this year, one prominent member of Obama’s cabinet is acknowledging that the economic downturn has made legalization of illegal immigrants tougher to sell to the American public.

“When unemployment is up, anything that looks like you’re taking jobs away from …people who are lawfully here—citizens of the United States—is going to meet a lot of resistance,â€