New Backers of Immigration Reform

Ever since President Obama announced his intentions to address the issue of immigration this year, more supporters have piped up:

From the New York Times:

The nation’s two major labor federations- John Sweeney, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., and Joe T. Hansen, a leader of the rival Change to Win federation- have agreed for the first time to join forces to support an overhaul of the immigration system, leaders of both organizations. The accord endorses legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already in the United States and opposes any large new program for employers to bring in temporary immigrant workers, officials of both federations said.

Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, a notoriously shrewd political strategist, helped to block immigration reform in ‘07, seeing it as a political liablity for the democratic party. Under Obama, however, Rahm is changing his tune. From the Wall Street Journal:

While Mr. Emanuel once predicted that comprehensive immigration reform wouldn't be considered until the second term of a Democratic president, he now says conversations on the issue will begin this year to lay the groundwork for possible action in 2010.