Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stepped up her call for immigration reform Friday, saying that while Congress has lagged on the issue, comprehensive reform is more realistic and necessary than ever before.

“Everybody recognizes that our current system isn’t working and that our immigration laws need to change,” Napolitano said in a morning address at the Center for American Progress.

Napolitano said the Obama administration will give a strong push for immigration reform in early 2010, noting that the immigration debate has changed since two years ago when it was last taken up by Congress.

“In 2007, many members of Congress said that they could support immigration reform in the future, but only if we first made significant progress securing the border,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano said DHS has proved their commitment to border law enforcement as the U.S. Border Patrol has grown to 20,000 and erected a 600 mile border fence, adding that the number of illegal immigrants trying to enter into the United States has significantly decreased.

“I’ve been dealing hands-on with immigration issues since 1993, so trust me: I know a major shift when I see one, and what I have seen makes reform far more attainable this time around,” stated Napolitano, who served as Governor of Arizona, a border state, from 2003-2009.

She specified that Immigration reform would not serve as a free path to legalization for the 12 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States. Rather, reform would require illegal immigrants to register with DHS and pay fines and back taxes, pass criminal background checks and learn English.

“This is a task that is critical, it’s attainable and that we are fully committed to fulfill,” Napolitano said.