The following is taken from an article by Albor Ruiz on NYDailyNews.com.

As proof, the group quoted the President’s cursory mention of what amounts to a life-and-death issue for millions of people: “We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system – 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.”

That was it, 36 words uttered in passing near the end of Obama’s speech, at best an afterthought, at worse a bone thrown to the immigration community to keep it wagging its tail and hoping against all hope.

“When communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids, when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing, when people are detained without access to legal counsel, when all that is happening, the system just isn’t working, and we need to change it,” candidate Barack Obama movingly told the National Council of La Raza during his presidential run.

Obviously, it is not the moral aspect of reform that will move our elected leaders to action. But the Immigration Policy Center’s director, Mary Giovagnoli, had it right when she pointed out that understanding the concrete, measurable economic benefits of immigrants might .

“We have a golden opportunity to enhance the gross domestic product, create and sustain new jobs and businesses, and maintain our competitive edge in the world if we create a system that legalizes current undocumented workers, provides for improved legal channels for families and new workers when they are needed in the future and adopts sensible policies to secure our border,” Giovagnoli said. “Such measures will help to provide the framework for an economic recovery that will allow us all to pursue our American dreams.”