Small steps key to effective immigration reform

President Obama can no longer lead the United States through immigration reform. His focus on other priorities, including his own re-election and Obamacare, has robbed him of time and necessary political capital.

The president's inexplicable refusal to build relationships, not just with Republican leaders, but even within his own party, has left him with few on Capitol Hill willing to work with the administration.

He is now paying the price for many years of blaming Republicans -- including his predecessor -- for all the ills of this country.

There is still a possibility for immigration reform, so necessary by this country, but the path to this will not be through a massive, omnibus bill.

What now is needed is not continued (and pointless) speeches demanding comprehensive reform, but a more realistic approach to address the distinctive elements of immigration policy. This would solve some of the challenges in this area and could create a confidence-building process between Congress and the administration.

For good reason, neither the Republican-led House of Representative nor the (barely) Democratic-controlled Senate put much faith in promises emanating from the White House. With President Obama even waiving major elements of his own legislation, not to mention instructing the Justice Department not to enforce key immigration laws, it should be no surprise that the administration needs to show good faith in some areas before moving on to others.

There are three specific areas within the immigration area that Congress and the administration could advance immediately: increasingly the availability of visas for highly skilled workers, improving border security and strengthening enforcement of expired visas.

There already is a consensus in both parties that the nation needs to provide more opportunities for the globe's best and brightest to work in the U.S. The program most associated with allowing those with special skills -- often with advanced degrees in science, engineering and technology -- is the H1B nonimmigrant visa. Under current practice, approximately 125,000 foreigners can receive an employer-requested work visa, valid for up to three years, with one renewal.

These are exactly the kind of immigrants the nation needs. This program should be expanded; one solution which would not increase the total number of visas would be to end the "diversity visa," which tries to attract immigrants from nations with little representation in the United States.

Under this odd program, a high-school dropout from Papua New Guinea would be eligible, while a Ph.D. from South Korea would not.

Adding these 55,000 visas to the H1B program, and making H1B recipients eligible for a fast track to residency would enhance our economy and national competitiveness, while rewarding actual education and skills, rather than the accident of birth.

We also should increase the availability of what have been called "entrepreneur visas," allowing entrance and applications for residency by those investing millions in our economy.

There is an overwhelming consensus in favor of improved border security, from physical barriers, to increasing Border Patrol personnel, to other forms of surveillance and enforcement. Congress has authorized hundreds of additional miles of fencing, walls and other resources for the U.S. border, only to have these projects delayed or waived by the administration. Ending these unilateral deferrals, and allowing construction of these measures, would be a sure sign of a serious commitment to immigration reform.

Integral to a more effective presence at the southern and northern borders, however, must be resources devoted to tracking all granted visas. Every year, tens of thousands of legal entrants to this country become illegal, as they overstay their tourist, educational or work visas. While there could be new mechanisms for renewing some of these without returning to their home countries, the U.S. needs more internal enforcement.

With these reforms passed, and two to three years of implementation, the next president could then move forward to other areas of immigration reform, including seasonal workers, widening the path to residency for foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges and universities with needed skills, and revamping family unification and refugee policies.

Immigration is too important to be consigned to one legislative effort; instead, it must be a process that involves an ongoing adaptation to the economic and political realities of the United States.

Unfortunately, this president has not proved himself capable of being a real national leader on this issue, at least not one capable of creating a genuine consensus. Even so, that does not mean that he and the Congress cannot make progress; it will just be in the form of smaller steps.

Wayne Bowen, a U.S. Army veteran, received his Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University. He resides in Cape Girardeau.