Tonight is the firstof the three Presidential debates between incumbent President Obama andchallenger Mitt Romney. The conventionalwisdom is that Mr. Romney has to score some points in the debate in order toclose Mr. Obama’s increasing lead in the polls.
The debate will take place in Colorado, a state that hasseen very highlevels of immigration in recent years. Mitt Romney has endorsed President Obama’s Deferred Action for ChildhoodArrivals (DACA). DACA allows foreignnationals who entered the US prior to their 16th birthday to obtainworking and traveling authorization, provided that they do not have a felony conviction(or three misdemeanors) and are high school graduates or armed forces veteran. President Obama recently said that thefailure to pass positive immigration legislation may have been the biggestfailing of his first term in office.
Readers of this blog will be keen to see if the Presidentialcandidates discuss employment-based immigration. House Republicans and Democrats have offered competingversions of a similar STEM visa bill. The STEM bill allows foreign-national graduates to have their greencards on a fast-track.
There is a deal to be made between Democrats and Republicansduring the upcoming lame duck session. The technology industry continues to put pressure on Congress to passthe bill, which is generally popular with the public. If one of the candidates can show leadershipon this issue and raise it during the debate, it may foreshadow a serious andcredible candidate on immigration.