After the immigration advocates meeting, a pair of influential senators presented President Obama with a three-page blueprint for a bipartisan agreement to overhaul the nation's immigration system, but the proposal's viability is threatened by politics surrounding the healthcare debate.

Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), in a 45-minute meeting on March 11, in the Oval Office, also asked for Obama's help in rounding up enough Republican votes to pass an immigration bill this year.

Schumer has been trying to line up additional Republican co-sponsors in hopes of broadening the bill's bipartisan support but none has signed on. Even without the healthcare obstacle, passing an immigration bill would be difficult.

At the March 11 meeting with Schumer and Graham, President Obama said he would proceed with an overhaul of the immigration system this year if he could attract substantial Republican support but Lindsey Graham, a leading Republican senator who supports an immigration overhaul said an immigration bill could not go forward if the president used a legislative shortcut sidestepping Republicans to pass his health care bill.

If Republicans do not sign on as sponsors, Immigration Reform in 2010 will not be pursued. If Republicans pick off seats in the 2010 election, the Republicans will be energized to continue to defy Obama in 2011 which brings us to 2012 which is a presidential election year and we all know Immigration Reform will not be pursued by Obama or the Republicans so the earliest date for Immigration Reform is 2013.

Details of the Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) blueprint were published in their letter signed March 19 and are included as an exhibit to this article.

Graham also said the proposal included "a rational plan to deal with the millions of undocumented immigrants already in the United States." In a recent interview, Graham suggested onerous measures were unrealistic.

"We're not going to mass-deport people and put them in jail, nor should we," Graham said. "But we need a system so they don't get an advantage over others for citizenship."

In a statement after the Obama meeting, Graham predicted their effort would collapse if Senate Democrats proceeded with a strategy to pass a healthcare bill through a simple majority vote — a process known as "reconciliation." Senate leaders say they are committed to doing just that.

"I expressed, in no uncertain terms, my belief Immigration Reform could come to a halt for the year if health care reconciliation goes forward," said Graham, who portrayed the document handed to Obama as "a work in progress."

Graham added: "For more than a year, healthcare has sucked most of the energy out of the room. Using reconciliation to push healthcare through will make it much harder for Congress to come together on a topic as important as immigration."

What Happened to Si Se Puede?

This has not been a good political week for the Hispanic community. Hispanic leaders in the House caved to Democratic pressure and endorsed the health care bill approved Sunday in the House.

Some members of the Hispanic Caucus have long been opposed to the Senate version because it would bar undocumented immigrants from using their own money to purchase insurance on the exchange that would be created for the uninsured and it would exclude legal immigrants from accessing the exchange for five years. The House passed the Senate bill with some changes that will be done through reconciliation. Unfortunately, those changes must be germane to the budget and immigration can not be fixed this way. “We know understanding political reality of this moment, it's smart to embrace the bill and move it along,” Hector Sanchez, a representative of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement told reporters on Capitol Hill Friday, “We have been flexible enough to move this issue forward but legislative leaders better deliver when Immigration Reform comes to the table.” In fact, the Hispanic community remains divided opposing the bill.

To add insult to injury, Sunday passage of the bill completely drowned out a long-planned march on Capitol Hill in support of Immigration Reform.

Lack of progress on Immigration Reform rankling Hispanics

The Senate language would prohibit undocumented immigrants’ buying healthcare coverage from the proposed health exchanges.

Before the historic House vote on Sunday approving the Health Care Reform Bill, Hispanic Democrats said they would not vote for a healthcare bill containing the Senate’s prohibitions.

They claimed while it may be politically popular in some parts of the country to ban undocumented immigrants from using their own money to buy coverage, it is not good policy. Undocumented immigrants will, one way or another, need medical attention in the United States, and it would be cheaper and more humane to provide them coverage if they pay for it. Otherwise, they will seek treatments in the nation’s emergency rooms, effectively increasing medical costs.

This would not be an issue if Congress and the President had passed a comprehensive Immigration Reform bill during the fourteen months of the Obama administration.

You legalize the nation's 11-13 million undocumented immigrants, then it doesn't matter whether undocumented immigrants are barred from coverage under the health care reform bill. It's pretty much that simple.

Aside from the policy consideration, however, is the political

Candidate Obama promised to make Immigration Reform a priority during his first year in office and the Hispanic vote surged to 10 million, from 7.8 million in 2004, and swung eight percentage points toward the Democrats.

Hispanics gave 59 percent of their vote to John Kerry in 2004 but gave Obama 67 percent in 2008. The immigrant Hispanic vote expanded from 52 percent for Kerry to 75 percent for Obama, enough to deliver California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Florida — and arguably North Carolina, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

As President, Obama has followed the cerebral strategy increased enforcement will win support for Immigration Reform. But if there is no serious progress on the issue, many disillusioned Hispanics will stay home in November.

Early whip counts are there are 40 Democrats and one Republican — Lindsey Graham. 3-5 Democrats are definite no's (Ben Nelson, Robert Byrd, and Kent Conrad), the rest are gettable. On the Republican side, there are about 30-32 definite no's, leaving another 9-11 possible pickups, like the Maine twins, Olympia Snowe (R) Susan Collins. Then again, Graham claims if health care reform passes via reconciliation, Immigration Reform is dead because Republicans will not work with Democrats.

Even if supporters can't get to 60, and this will be subject to the Mother Of All Filibusters, have the vote anyway. Show Hispanics you are fighting for us. People don't mind losses. In fact, losing voters are a great way to identify roadblocks to reform. What people hate are Democrats making promises, then helplessly shrugging their shoulders because they don't have 60 votes.

People voted for Democrats because they promised to fight for issues they cared deeply about. This is one of the issues they promised to deliver on. Now they should either deliver, or hold a vote to show Hispanics who is standing in the way of reform. If Lindsey Graham wants Hispanics to see his party once again standing en masse in the way of a key priority, so let it be.

Nothing energizes voters more than a good villain, and heavens knows, Democrats need their base voters energized.

Immigration is a delicate issue for the White House. After promising to revamp in his first year of office what many see as a fractured system, Obama risks angering a growing, politically potent Hispanic constituency if he defers the goal until 2011.

But with approval of the healthcare bill, Democrats are wary of plunging into another polarizing issue.

Immigration Reform Is Back on the Agenda: What's the Political Strategy?

Do they really want to get into the inevitable fight with organized labor over guest workers in an election year, especially when, after the Citizens United ruling, union dollars will be more valuable than ever?

Surely they're not that self-sabotaging.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, quiet until just before approval of the House Health Care bill despite the probability of the Senate’s bill becoming the baseline product, did threaten to take down the bill over the harsh immigration provisions in the Senate version. These provisions include the banning of undocumented workers from the exchanges, even to purchase health insurance with their own money.

They claim while it may be politically popular in some parts of the country to ban undocumented immigrants from using their own money to buy coverage, it is not good policy. Undocumented immigrants will, one way or another, need medical attention in the United States, and it would be cheaper and more humane to provide them coverage if they pay for it. Otherwise, they will seek treatments in the nation’s emergency rooms, effectively increasing medical costs.

The Hispanic Caucus supported health care reform at the expense of Immigration Reform because Immigration Reform is not the highest priority in the land for Puerto Ricans like the Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairperson, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, a Puerto Rican American politician.

The decision to vote "yes" on health care reform knocked down another potential roadblock to reaching the necessary 216 votes for final passage, outside of steep political concerns about the bill's impact on the midterm elections.

At the very least, the Hispanic Caucus should have traded their votes for Immigration Reform. They did not.

In a deal with Congressman Stupak to obtain his vote, White House announced a Presidential Executive Order on abortion affirming no federal funds will be spent on abortion.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a Puerto Rican America and the only exception to the premise only Mexican Americans rate Immigration Reform as the highest priority in the USA, and several other CHC members had been threatening to withhold their support because of provisions the Senate added restricting illegal immigrants from using their own money to access the insurance exchanges that would be established by the proposed legislation.

Illinois Democrat Luis Gutierrez says it's scandalous this Congress has done nothing on immigration and President Obama has made things worse.

Representative Gutierrez said, "This administration of Barack Obama will exceed the number of family separations and deportations than even at the height of George Bush, which is saying a lot. Understand the fear and the devastation that are going on. You know, it needs to get taken care of. It's the plight of some 12 million illegal immigrants that busloads of their supporters came to Washington to change.

If the Congressional Hispanic Caucus had taken a page from Congressman Stupak's play book trading his opposition to abortion to obtain his vote for passage of Health Care Reform, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus could have at least traded their votes for Obama's assurance Immigration Reform would follow Health Care Reform.

Chairperson Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), with more than 20 CHC members behind her, told reporters the broader impact of the legislation overrode the other concerns. She said 8.8 million Hispanics would gain insurance coverage in the legislation, a "historic opportunity" not to be missed.

Nydia Velazquez obviously indifferent to Immigration Reform was outsmarted by the White House and thus freely gave away her bargaining power and caved in. 

This is substantial evidence not all Hispanics think alike. It is evident Puerto Rican Americans (Congressman Gutierrez being the only exception) view Immigration Reform from a different point of reference. To Puerto Ricans Americans, Immigration Reform takes a back seat to Health Care Reform.

Not so with Puerto Rican American Congressman Gutierrez. The highest priority in America is Immigration Reform for the congressman.

Allaying a lingering concern about immigration issues in the health-care battle, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus announced its unanimous support for President Obama's key domestic agenda initiative.

That is why Hispanics from Mexico and Latin America understand the need for Immigration Reform and why the Hispanic Caucus Puerto Ricans (Again with the exceptional Congressman Gutierrez) and Cubans should be tarred and feathered.

Another example to substantiate Puerto Rican Americans and Cuban Americans are indifferent to Immigration Reform is U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, a Cuban American, who is no where to be found in the U.S. Senate fighting for Immigration Reform. (Exhibit A: It is two non-Hispanics drafting the next U.S. Senate bill on Immigration Reform).

This should be the basis for only electing Mexican American Hispanics because Cubans nor Puerto Ricans don't understand the plight of Latin American Hispanics to the U.S. Senate.