As Mala pointed out several times, immigration simply wasn’t an issue discussed during the presidential debates at all. So it’s good to know that Obama has created the space on his “pre-election” website to discuss exactly what he intends to do about the ‘problem’ of immigration:

Create Secure Borders

Obama and Biden want to preserve the integrity of our borders. They support additional personnel, infrastructure and technology on the border and at our ports of entry.

Improve Our Immigration System

Obama and Biden believe we must fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.

Remove Incentives to Enter Illegally

Obama and Biden will remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.

Bring People Out of the Shadows

Obama and Biden support a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.

Work with Mexico

Obama and Biden believe we need to do more to promote economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration.

I don’t know about you, but I see several things wrong with this little ‘plan’ right off the bat–for example, why is learning English a part of any immigration plan? Did the U.S. suddenly declare a national language that I don’t know about? Or does this plan buy into stereotypes about immigrants that they refuse to learn English (it’s actually exactly opposite, most immigrants are desperate to learn English, they just don’t have the time/resources to do so).

Also, I wonder what this “work with Mexico” plan would entail. Would it involve dismantling NAFTA (or at least scaling it back significantly) such that the indigenous farmers (who are the vast majority of people immigrating) could continue sustenance farming in a successful way? Or would it mean creating more and more miserable factories that continue to destroy Mexico’s infrastructure and push more and more workers to desperate moves like crossing a war zone without the protection of papers?

I wait to see Obama’s actions on this, and until then, I pray to who ever is out there to touch Obama’s heart with a compassion stick.