A guest post by Lauren Bulfin.
Friends of mine who have followed Obama’s misadventures with the economic stimulus package, have taken to asking me: “How is Obama different from any other president we’ve had? I thought he was about change.”
I haven’t really had a satisfactory answer for that, other than to say Obama is giving into the pragmatics of politics rather than letting his high-minded ideals stop him from getting things done. But an article in the New York Times on April 10, “Obama to Push Immigration Bill as One Priority,” has left me with an answer I’d rather believe: Obama is different from other presidents.

12 million people reside illegally in our country. They form their own shadow class: denied many basic rights and all but the most menial, back-breaking of jobs. The threat of deportation makes them easily exploitable. In college, I had an internship that involved organizing with undocumented workers. I also had an on and off relationship with a man who was undocumented for three and a half years. It’s different when you get to know, really know, people from second and third world countries. I have come to view immigration reform as a personal, rather than political issue.
Obama’s bill would put these 12 million people on the path to legalization in the midst of an economic crisis that has American workers hurting. (It also contains draconian elements, such as civil penalties and increased border enforcement, without which the bill would almost certainly fail). The timing of the bill is such that even proponents of the issue have called the move “politically disastrous.” It has the potential to weigh down his entire domestic agenda. If I were an activist – and I have worked with activists on this issue—I would not act at this time, as deeply as I care about this issue.
And that’s why I admire Obama for doing so. In my blog post “Buddhist for Passover,” I quoted the Four Vows, in which one vows to do things that one has acknowledged to be impossible. These vows have made me reevaluate my path in life as I am reminded that actions are not worth undertaking merely because they are possible. Rather, their merit lies in whether or not they are worth doing.
I believe that Obama operates within the latter category. His example has stretched the American public’s belief of what is possible. Before his candidacy, who would have thought that a black man with a Muslim name could get elected to the White House? This is a man who wound up marrying a woman who started out as his boss – he just kept asking Michelle Obama out until she said “yes.”
Whether the bill gets passed or not, I am genuinely touched that our President, who has so many important issues to contend with, has made this issue a priority. Obama is doing something he doesn’t have to do, which might not work but will definitely provoke a vicious reaction from opponents and detract from issues such as health care reform and energy independence. And he’s doing this for the disenfranchised: for our gardeners, our busboys, our day laborers, our babysitters, our maids, and for some, our friends. On this issue, Obama’s intent is in the right place as he works to save sentient beings, 12 million at a time. If my ex-boyfriend had the chance to attend college, I wouldn’t give a damn if Obama continued with illegal wire-tapping.