NPR
Political circumstances, Singer says, are working against moving the discussion forward.
The growing strain of nativism that has marked the pre-election politics, coupled with economic hard times, have conspired to keep Congress mired in its three-years-and-counting inaction on immigration reform.
What that's done is not only prolong the uncertainty about what will or won't happen on a national level — and prompt states like Arizona to fashion their own controls — but also stall progress on legal immigration issues.
"Everything is frozen," Alden says. "Immigration policy has become hostage to an unachievable ideal for what it means to secure the border."
Delaying overhauls to the national immigration quota system means that, for example, "we're driving away thousands of skilled Chinese and Indians," he says. There has been no action on the "Dream Act," legislation proposed last year that would allow undocumented immigrant students who have been in the country since childhood to enlist in the military, go to college and earn citizenship.
Even workplace verification efforts to identify undocumented workers have been hampered by the border debate, Alden says.
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