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Opinion: Bottom line on immigration reform: Don’t hold your breath

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In the wake of the legislative wreckage of this year’s attempt to rewrite immigration policy, at least one prominent Democrat is warning that any similar effort will have to wait --- until well into the next decade.

The Washington Times reports today that Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois recently told a Latino activist from his state that Democrats in Washington would not grapple with the controversial immigration issue until the second term of a prospective Democratic president. That would push it into 2013, at the earliest.

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The Washington Times says Emanuel confirms making the comment. And his judgment certainly deserves serious consideration. A former White House aide to President Clinton, he’s a cold-eyed political realist who in 2006 oversaw the national campaign that achieved what the Democrats had failed to accomplish in several previous tries --- regain the majority in the House.

Emanuel’s prediction speaks volumes about the tricky politics that surrounds immigration and the lack of anything close to a consensus on how to deal with it. It also makes one wonder about the prospects for resolving other complex and politically difficult matters, such as the rising cost of healthcare and the funding of Social Security.

-- Don Frederick

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