Secretary Napolitano (via Wikipedia.org).
In preparation for pushing for immigration reform in the coming year, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano indicated Friday that the Obama administration would insist on a path to legal status for illegal immigrants. She said that such a three pronged plan would likely include “tougher enforcement laws against illegal immigrants and employers who hire them, a streamlined system for legal immigration and a ‘tough and fair pathway to legal status.'” She pointed to the depressive effect that the economic downturn has had on migration, suggesting that it was more feasible to consider such reforms in the current context than in previous years when immigration rates were much higher. She also emphasized that “we will never have fully effective law enforcement or national security as long as so many millions remain in the shadows,” and that such reform would bolster our efforts in those areas. Read more at the NYT and WP.