Yesterday’s White House summit on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, hosted by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, was well received by many D.C. based advocates. The Center for American Progress, United Farm Workers, and America’s Voice all released statements praising the meeting as a step in the right direction and as a sign that the Obama administration was serious about getting a bill out this year that could be passed next year.

But was the meeting more show than actual movement?

Saying you are for immigration reform, which implies some change from the current system, means nothing without action. The idea that actions haven’t already taken place that show where the White House and company are moving with CIR is what disturbs me.

It is not enough to ask DHS to revoke 287(g) contracts for municipalities that violate the spirit of the agreement. 287(g), which deputizes local law enforcement for ICE must be revoked period.

It is not acceptable to go into the jails under Secure Communities and it’s not just the female firebrand Latina blogger saying this.

I think the Mexican American Political Association has the right idea. They released a statement that said:

President Barack Obama could not have been clearer than the statement he made at the close of the two-day summit meeting with the presidents of Mexico and Canada on August 10, 2009, that immigration reform legislation will have to wait until 2010 and indicated that even then will prove a major political test (as reported in the Los Angeles Times). Immigrant advocates and proponents in favor of fair immigration reform and legalization should now have no illusions about the timetable for the change that we hoped for and the change that our people want and need. However, the demand for an immediate moratorium of the Obama enforcement policy becomes more apparent and pressing. There is no other alternative. If we can’t have reform this year, we absolutely require relief in the form of a moratorium of the enforcement of employer sanctions, raids, deportations, e-Verify, and prolonged detention for immigration related offenses, which are civil in nature. All non-violent tactics need to be put on the table.

We need to tell Obama, Napolitano and lawmakers that the community says it’s now.