This past Wednesday, President Obama delivered a much-anticipated State of the Union address. While the focus of his speech was the economy and health care reform, he also took a moment to address immigation in a single statement:

“We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system,” Obama said, “to secure our borders, enforce our laws and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.”

But for many immigration reform advocates, a mere mention was not enough. Change.org criticized the President in their blog:

"Barack Obama was elected on a platform for change last year. More than a year after his Inauguration, things still look the same for most immigrant families in the United States. And we are tired of being "strung along" on the broken change bandwagon."

Other reform advocates were more forgiving, and more hopeful.

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, praised the President for even mentioning reform. “I am going to give the President a lot of credit for broaching the subject in this particular environment of ‘Just Say No to Everything,’ he said."

MySA.com’s article interpreted the President’s remarks as hopeful as he "urged lawmakers in his State of the Union...to drop partisan divisions and pass immigration reform legislation." And Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, reiterated his desire for a bipartisan bill to fix the broken immigration system, but warned that “The president cannot be a bystander and expect immigration reform to just happen."

With the recent victory of Sen.-elect Scott Brown, R-Massachusetts, many reform advocates fear that their cause is slipping away. An article in the Hill pointed out that this may "have diminished the chances of passing far-reaching, controversial immigration reform." But "Democrats are not giving up", and are even reaching out to Lou Dobbs. According to the article, they reason that "Winning the support of Dobbs, who became a prominent critic of illegal immigration and proposals to grant amnesty to illegal workers, could provide a significant boost to reform efforts."

I had to read that sentence twice to believe it too. Wow.

Do you think a bipartisan immigration solution can be passed in 2010? Why or why not?

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