President Obama has not been very good at explaining why we need immigration reform. He has come up with various slogans such as "its the right thing to do", but this doesnt really explain why we need immigration reform. Actually, Obama has not been very good at explaining much of anything which has been his single biggest problem in office, but that topic is for another diary on another day.
The simple fact is that you need more people to buy more things and to pay more taxes. The more official citizens you have on the books the more people who work, pay taxes and buy things. We are falling off the "population cliff" where the birthrate is stagnating. People are getting older and so the only way to make up for the shortfall is through immigration.
So then how do we go about reforming immigration? Well, its a bad word in some circles nowadays, but "immunity" for all of the current non-citizens in our country is the best way to go. Although it should be done in a responsible manner taking care not to let in criminals from other countries, it should be done in the fastest manner possible. The faster we can bring these people on the books the faster our economy will expand and the greater benefit to our society.
So the President is right, "it is the right thing to do", but he needs to go into more detail and sell his points to the American people. Even George W. Bush knows we need immigration reform. We all know it and when it happens it will be of economic benefit to us all.