• The following is from an editorial in the Miami Herald:
Although President Barack Obama promises to make immigration reform a priority in his second term, other issues are taking center stage in Washington, including the debt ceiling, gun control and Cabinet appointments that some Republicans are vowing to oppose.
The legislative and political calendar is already becoming crowded. Unless reform advocates are prepared to insist that an overhaul of immigration must be at the top of the agenda for the president and Congress, fixing the system may be sidetracked once again by opponents and the need to deal with other issues.
Advocates have just received new impetus for the effort to fix the system in the form of a new report by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.
The report says the government spent $18 billion on immigration enforcement in 2011 resulting in record levels of detentions and deportations. Customs and border enforcement, it found, refer more cases for federal prosecution than all the Justice Department agencies combined.
Also, apprehensions along the border have fallen to a 40-year low — roughly 340,000, down from roughly 1.6 million in 2000, a decrease in illegal entries.
All of this should set the stage for a new approach to the immigration debate. Mr. Obama and his predecessors have lived up to the "enforcement first" demands of immigration opponents.
What is needed is a comprehensive approach that includes a practical and orderly path for legalization that can benefit some of the 11 million undocumented people living here.
Mr. Obama has made it clear that he understands his debt to the Hispanic community, whose votes helped him win re-election and who by and large want to see significant changes in the way this country deals with immigration. Some Republicans get it, too.
But that doesn't guarantee a victory for immigration reform. Advocates have momentum coming out of the election, but support from the White House and some parts of Capitol Hill won't last unless supporters make it clear that they aren't willing to wait like they did during Mr. Obama's first term.
The president must lead by becoming more involved in the issue, and proponents must keep up the pressure for change. There won't be a "next time."