Who cares if it’s Congress or the President who takes the lead on changing the policy? The fact is the President can’t do it alone. Nor can Congress. They need to work together.

I’ve been highly critical of Flake’s flip-flop and McCain’s ‘danged fence’ stance as well as President Obama’s failed first-term promise to tackle CIR, but now is not the time for gloating or ‘I told you so’s.’ The election is over. It clearly had far-reaching consequences, and Republicans and Democrats have been awakened to this reality.

This is a very good thing, but if we want to make the most of it, then we must be willing to put aside our partisan views and work together. After all, isn’t this what we’ve been demanding for the past six years?

We speak about gridlock and Washington’s inability to get things done and then, when compromise is in the works, we criticize those working toward solutions. Enough. Regardless of how we personally feel about those who are a part of the Gang of 8, we should take the time to personally thank them and offer our support.

Immigration reform is far from reality. It will be a very tough climb, and our Senators and Representatives will need as much support as possible to drown out the shrill voices of those who will scream “amnesty” and demand nothing short of deportation for all.

The plan put forward by the Gang of 8 is both compassionate and smart. It balances the political concerns of those on either side of the aisle without forgetting that we are dealing with real people, individuals who already consider themselves Americans.

If you haven’t had a chance to read the Gang of 8’s set of principles, you can do so here. Please, take the time to read it and then send a note of thanks to both Senators McCain and Flake. Only by working together and promising our support will we ensure that passage of comprehensive immigration reform finally becomes reality.

Senator John McCain

D.C: (202) 224-2235

Phoenix: (602) 952-2410

John_McCain@mccain.senate.gov

Senator Jeff Flake

D.C: (202) 224-4521

Phoenix: (602) 840-1891

Jeff_Flake@flake.senate.gov

Richard Carmona was a registered Independent for most of his life, worked as Surgeon General under a Republican president, and was once loved by both sides of the aisle for his heroic background and independent views. Now that he’s a registered Democrat, Republicans are trying to vilify him and cast him as a puppet for President Obama.

But the alternative is Jeff Flake, someone who has been a part of our dysfunctional Congress for over a decade and votes almost exclusively down party lines. Though he once touted bipartisanship on the issue of immigration reform, he now rejects the tamest of reforms, including the DREAM Act.

So do we want solutions or more gridlock? If it’s solutions, then we need to put our votes where our mouths are and elect a moderate. We need Richard Carmona.

Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Three years ago my children and I headed to Washington, D.C. to partake in National Police Week, an annual remembrance of our nation’s fallen peace officers. That was the year my husband’s name was etched onto the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall. That was the year we gathered with other first-year survivors to honor our loved ones and share in our common grief.

Yesterday, we returned from our second trip to D.C. for Police Week, and I had the chance to reflect on what’s changed in the past three years, and what has remained the same.

As we sat in a sea of candles during the evening vigil and listened to the reciting of newly added names to the memorial wall, I knew this time around, the emotions would flow, but it would be o.k. I would be o.k. My children would be o.k.

Three years ago it was a much different story. We were just emerging from a fog of sadness and anger that had overtaken our minds and bodies in ways indescribable and unimaginable for those who have not lived such tragedy. We were still in the process of picking up the pieces of our lives and figuring out how to glue ourselves back together.

As I walked along the wall and sat among other survivors, I recognized the blankness in the eyes of those new to this reality and could literally feel the ache in their souls. Part of me needed to turn away from it, not wanting to go back to the place I had come from, while another part of me wanted to let them all know their pain would ease and life would go on and could even be better.

I said little, knowing that in this sacred place, there would be comfort. Comfort in a shared understanding of pain and the daily struggle to walk through it. But as I listened to our nation’s leaders share their words of wisdom with those whose loved ones sacrificed their lives to keep our communities safe, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of anger at the hollowness of their words. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed and hurt that our President chose to skip an annual tradition of speaking to survivors at the national Peace Officers Memorial Service. I couldn’t help but wonder if any of our national leaders took the time to thank the families who now spend each and every day in the shadow of what could have been.

I thought about all the work myself and others have done over the past three years to bring attention to the problem of a broken immigration system and all the pandering and back peddling and avoiding our leaders have given us in return. When it comes to immigration reform, what have we accomplished in three years time? Almost nothing.

We’ve listened to our President promise to fix the system then declare, two years later, that he’s done all he can and the rest of us need to create a movement to make it so. We’ve listened to Senators McCain and Kyl and Congressman Flake promise reform then back away when it proved to be a potential political liability.

I’ve listened to countless individuals, from business leaders to law enforcement professionals to religious leaders to immigration attorneys to local politicians, who all present almost identical plans for a solution to fix this country’s immigration mess. And yet, no one in Washington will heed their call.

And I’ve listened to all the extremists, from politicians to radio hosts to ill-informed citizens who repeat the same myths and falsities over and over again. And still, the debate rages on and no one in power has the courage to change it.

President Obama has a golden opportunity to gather the masses behind him and push a comprehensive immigration plan through Congress. Every major poll that’s been taken over the last decade shows Americans firmly support immigration reform that tackles both border security and visa reform and offers a guest worker program that provides opportunities for low-skilled workers to enter the country legally.

We don’t need another movement in this country to make immigration reform a priority. We already have hundreds of coalitions and millions of supporters from all walks of life behind it. What we need is legislation that all of these groups can coalesce behind and speak favorably for with one united voice.

If the President were truly in favor of reform, he would not be inviting groups of celebrities to the White House but rather groups of interested parties that have already said they would back comprehensive reform. These groups include the business community, law enforcement professionals, immigration attorneys, religious leaders, and politicians from both sides of the aisle. These groups could provide the unifying message that would finally force Congress to stop sitting on its hands and instead provide a solution.

As for Arizona’s senators and representatives… well, it’s high time they stop spreading myths and start doing what they know is in the best interest of this state and country. To suggest that border security is even possible without visa reform or gun reform is to pretend they are clueless about the realities of immigration, and they are not.

I know that Senators McCain and Kyl and Congressman Flake have extensive knowledge about how to fix the system. I know without a doubt that they also understand that the things they’ve been saying and doing lately are completely opposite of what they should be doing to fix the problem. Those three men have spent more time researching and dealing with this issue than almost anyone else. They know how to fix it. They’ve just decided that reelection and party solidarity are more important than solutions. And that’s just sad.

As for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, again I say, I’m not fooled. While I commend Ms. Napolitano for her work to beef up border security, especially the efforts to dramatically increase border patrol agents, I also know that she, too, understands much more needs to be done.

Three years ago, in June 2008, I met with then Governor Napolitano to speak about immigration reform. She assured me that if and when Senator Obama became president, he would institute comprehensive immigration reform, and she would play a huge role in making it happen. Well, I’m still waiting.

And so are millions of Americans. Some of those fellow Americans, like myself, have a personal stake in this issue. Some have paid with their lives and with the lives of their loved ones. We don’t need another movement or another coalition or another election to solve this. We need leaders.

Tell me Mr. President, Madame Secretary, Senator McCain, Senator Kyl, and Congressman Flake, how many more survivors do you need to hear from? How many more families need to suffer?

In another couple of years, I intend to take my boys back to the wall that bears their father’s name and honors his sacrifice as well as the sacrifices of all our peace officers and their families. Will anything be different then? Will our leaders finally have the courage to lead?

Where I take issue is when Mr. Flake blames this hostile environment on the current administration. That’s the type of partisan political spin that does nothing to address why we’re in this situation to begin with or how we can fix it. And when pointing fingers, let’s keep in mind that neither this administration nor the previous administration put up roadblocks to immigration reform. The barriers to real reform have always been rooted in Congress, and Congressman Flake is keenly aware of that.

I appreciate that Mr. Flake, unlike many of his colleagues, attempted to be more specific about border security, saying we need to make the Tucson Sector look more like the Yuma Sector. At least now he’s established a concrete goal and one that could and should be attainable. However, let’s not forget that law enforcement officials attributed part of the Yuma Sector’s security to the fact that some illegal crossers simply moved over to the Tucson Sector. And as Mr. Flake admitted, even when we secure the Tucson Sector, “we still face considerable immigration challenges.”

Again, Representative Flake is correct when he speaks of the changing nature of illegal crossings and the escalating violence in Mexico. This is reason number one why we need more than just boots on the ground to combat the problem. We must take bigger steps toward ensuring that American weapons are no longer smuggled across the border and used in the raging drug wars. We must take a more active role in helping Mexico end the violence that our country helped create by its addiction to drugs.

If Mr. Flake can convince his colleagues that those types of reform are part of the ‘secure the border’ mantra his party is rallying for, then maybe, just maybe we could attain real security on our borders. But to believe that ignoring our role in the illegal drug and gun trafficking trade and simply putting more bodies on the border will get us to secure levels is like believing we can end crime simply by hiring more police officers.

Perhaps comprehensive immigration reform is a dead end. Perhaps our political will is too bent against it. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t tackle parts of the problem a little bit at a time. It doesn’t mean we give up the fight. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Without question border security is a necessary and vital part of reform, but border security alone will not solve our immigration ills. I know this, millions of Americans know this, and Jeff Flake knows this. So let’s stop arguing about reform and semantics and start finding ways to implement change. We may not get the big reform bill we’ve hoped for, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make incremental changes that will take us down the path toward solutions.

While many progressives claimed they weren’t surprised by the move, I found myself stunned and deeply saddened. I have spent a great deal of time following Mr. Flake’s statements on immigration. I have held him up as a model of intelligent discourse on the complexities of immigration reform and the realities of what it would take to bring about a solution. I truly believed that when or if an immigration reform bill passed through Congress, Representative Flake would be the one spearheading it.

Now I’m left pondering why someone so bright could suddenly become so dim. I realize this is a reaction to Arizona’s anti-immigration obsession and Mr. Flake’s upcoming run for Senator Jon Kyl’s seat, but does Jeff Flake really believe his 180-degree turn will fool voters?

I don’t think anyone was fooled by John McCain’s “build the damn fence” persona. We all knew he took the road of least resistance because when he stuck out his neck on immigration reform, his own party members turned tail and ran. Still, do we really think voters forgot John McCain’s earlier, sensible comments on immigration? Do we think voters who are dead set against immigration reform would be hood-winked into voting for McCain over J.D. Hayworth simply because of his newfound appreciation for a border fence?

If anything, John McCain lost the respect of many centrists, including myself, who had appreciated his maverick streak and saw right through his veiled attempts to recreate himself for the purpose of votes. And now, we have Jeff Flake lowering himself to the same election tactics: appeasing party power brokers at the expense of real solutions.

Congressman Flake knows immigration reform is a complex problem that will not be resolved by enforcement alone. He’s said so himself countless times. Now he’s saying he must change positions because “a comprehensive solution is neither desirable or possible given the current leadership.” Does that mean he blames President Obama? John Boehner? Harry Reid? Isn’t Congressman Flake part of our current leadership?

No one said the job of a legislator was easy. It’s quite the opposite, in fact. Our elected officials are asked to solve a myriad of complicated problems while courteously responding to the people that put them in office. But that’s why we elect them… because they promise to SOLVE problems.

Sure, we can continue to spend millions of dollars on a high-tech fence that may or may not be successful in keeping Mexicans from illegally crossing the border, but even that doesn’t address the problem of the six million or so undocumented workers who entered legally and then overstayed their visas. Nor does it deal with the complicated and flawed visa system that prevents lower skilled migrants from obtaining a legal means of working in the United States. Or the delusional idea that 12 million undocumented workers will simply self-deport if we put up more barriers to their education and healthcare. If they risked life and limb to get here in the first place, it’s unlikely they’ll return just because they’re unable to obtain a high school diploma.

Make no mistake, border security is a necessary, vital and huge component of immigration reform. But it is not the only component. The easy fixes that have become the new mantra of this state’s former moderate leaders are neither easy nor the only fix to the problem of illegal immigration. And while Arizona continues to apply bandages to the problem, our national representatives smile, nod their heads, and wink-wink their way into yet another election cycle.

Congressman Flake is an intelligent and well-spoken individual. His flip-flop on immigration isn’t because of a sudden change of heart but rather a sudden change of ambitions. In his quest to become Arizona’s newest senator, he’s put aside doing what’s in the best interest of this country to do what’s in the best interest of his campaign. Now’s the time to let him know the gig is up. We’re not buying the idea of an easy fix, and we expect our leaders to do the hard work required for long-term solutions.