Some Immigration Reform Folks Are Their Own Worst Enemy

I saw this in the Tribune:

There were years of intertwined friendships and relationships at the table, including my own with the president that began when he was a Chicago community organizer in 1986. Yet, despite all of these ties, we were there to tell him about his moral failure on immigration, and his looming political catastrophe.
Immigrant families are destroyed every day through deportations, Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit advocacy group, told Obama. Latinos are angry and feel betrayed that the Obama White House has increased deportations and hasn't advanced reform, which could result in a nightmare for Democrats in the fall elections.
The president was just as blunt. He said that he and 45 to 47 Democratic senators support immigration reform. The problem, he said, is the lack of Republican support. Obama said his administration is shifting the focus of deportation onto undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. If Americans come to believe the government is serious about immigration enforcement, he said, they will support reform measures that allow undocumented immigrants to gain legal status here.
Obama's wrong. Immigration is hunting down teens, workers, mothers, not just criminals. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports, President George W. Bush's second term began with 246,000 deportations a year. Under Obama, the number is closer to 400,000. The administration's lack of leadership on immigration reform and its increased deportations of non-criminals has created a toxic relationship with Latino immigrants.

More at the link. See Obama’s moral failure on immigration

Now this is the problem and I say this as a person that wants immigration reform. I think the public (and we need to get beyond seeing just "r" and "d" by folks names) would buy immigration reform that had some pathway to Citzenship if

That steps are taken to secure the border
That internal enforcement (ID CARD REGISTRY) was implemented
That there was a sane Guest worker program
That the "bad" folks would not qualify for pathway

and

We will not have to go through this again in 20 years.

If Obama on his own as Executor decided not to enforce these laws on deportation there would be outrage. All those people that are willing to give immigration reform a chance would go what is the use. The Govt will not enforce any new laws anyway.

That is the quandary. For those that wish the President to stop the deportation of those illegally here then well you just sunk any chance of immigration reform.

That is the political reality and you would find those Dem supporters of Immigration reform in the Congress going to no. Americans to buy immigration reform need to have belief that future laws will be enforced. I am not sure that would be helped by the President saying current laws would be ignored. I also suspect large parts of the latino community that want immigration reform understand this.