It is the consensus that 2011 was the year of immigration
enforcement. Deportations are at an all-time high, with an emphasis
on the deportation of violent criminals, drug dealers, and
terrorists. Led by Arizona, it is also the year when certain states
tried to enact immigration laws, when the federal government failed
to act. In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the Obama
Administration's constitutional challenge to Arizona's
immigration law, enacted in 2010 but temporarily blocked by the
courts. This ruling will have far ranging impact as it will decide
whether immigration policy is exclusively a federal matter or
whether the states can step in with a potential patchwork of laws.
However, looking at Congress, and the current lack of consensus, it
is unlikely that it will overhaul America's broken immigration
system in 2012 or in the foreseeable future.
