Remember candidate Barack Obama? The one who recognized that mass deportation was a failed strategy that tore communities apart, and knew that comprehensive reform was the only lasting solution? The one who said:
“I think it’s time for a President who won’t walk away from something as important as comprehensive reform when it becomes politically unpopular. And that’s the commitment I’m making to you. I marched with you in the streets of Chicago. I fought with you in the Senate for comprehensive immigration reform.
“And I will make it a top priority in my first year as President — not just because we need to secure our borders and get control of who comes into our country. And not just because we have to crack down on employers abusing undocumented immigrants. But because we have to finally bring those 12 million people out of the shadows.
“Yes, they broke the law. And we should not excuse that. We should require them to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for citizenship, behind those who came here legally. But we cannot and should not deport 12 million people. That would turn America into something we’re not; something we don’t want to be.”