Immigration waits in the wings

President Barack Obama promised top Latino leaders on a conference call Tuesday afternoon that once a deal is reached on the fiscal cliff, the focus of the call, he’ll throw the full force of the White House behind overhauling the country’s immigration laws. …

Latino leaders say the activity is a clear sign that Obama plans to keep his word and make immigration a signature policy of his second term — an unsurprising move after the Hispanic vote turned out in record numbers to propel the president to victory this fall.

“There’s a strong commitment on immigration reform, but it is contingent on getting some stability around the fiscal cliff. He’s made that pretty clear,” NCLR President Janet Murguía told POLITICO. “If they have a deal that has some rationale around a two-step process or whatever, there is a genuine sense we’ll see this issue queued up and that they’ll put the force of the White House behind this.” …

“He did mention [comprehensive immigration reform]. As soon as he can get the fiscal cliff issues taken care of, he’s committed to doing it,” Wilkes said of Obama’s comments on the call. Wilkes also said he believes Obama is going to be more interested in getting a law passed now that he isn’t running for office.