Obama had taken office in 2009 with the promise of introducing an immigration reform. He wanted to include a right of residence for immigrants who came as children of illegal immigrants to the United States. It is the third major project in his first term after the reform of health insurance and financial supervision. Illegal immigration is one of the most urgent domestic problems in the U.S.; a reform could be one of the riskiest projects.
Everyone was talking about the reform, shortly before the effective date of SB 1070 in Arizona which was the hardest immigration law of the country. This law included tough measures against immigrants. It stipulated, for example that the police officers had to control every person where they suspected they may find illegal immigrants. Even if someone from a completely different reason, for example for a traffic offense has contact with the police, his immigration status must be checked. The wearing of this document is obligatory although it is not actually prescribed in the United States. Obama had therefore criticized the law. The Federal Justice Department complained about it and the Senate worked out a draft for a federal law. Everyone agreed that something must be done but the nation was divided. The Democrats wanted to allow the citizenship for illegal immigrants under certain conditions but the Republicans denounced these plans as "mass amnesty" and requested for a strengthening of border security and tough measures against illegal immigrants. In 2010 Obama's immigration reform failed because only 55 politicians voted in the Senate. 60 votes were needed almost all Republicans voted against it. In May 2011 Obama took a new approach by making a speech in El Paso. On the one hand, he emphasized his hardness at the border security to reassure conservative Whites. He had increased to 20,000 men to the