Immigration Politics: The untouchable topic of immigration reform

A British look at Obama's State of the Union speech, immigration politics and the reality of immigration economics. Distance does foster objectivity.

The untouchable topic of immigration reform | Stewart J Lawrence | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "In his widely-heralded State of the Union speech this week, President Obama stayed away from hot-button issues like immigration. And that's a shame, because nearly all studies show that immigration is a boon to the US economy. In fact, solving the current immigration crisis, some experts believe, could accelerate the nation's recovery, stimulating production and spurring job growth over the long haul.

But, of course, that's not how rightwing Republicans see it. They insist that immigration – and immigrants – are a 'threat' to native-born workers, who, they insist, would gladly fill the 7m jobs currently held by illegal immigrants if only we drove them all out, and tightened border and workplace enforcement to keep more from coming."