Gov. Janet Napolitano, likely the next homeland security secretary. (Wikipedia photo)

Under a new, more liberal administration, ICE will presumably tone down the raids, and the website for the presidential transition says as much:

Immigration raids are ineffective: Despite a sevenfold increase in recent years, immigration raids only netted 3,600 arrests in 2006 and have placed all the burdens of a broken system onto immigrant families.

The future administration’s platform also calls for a comprehensive reform plan similar to the one backed by President Bush, which failed in Congress because of the controversial “amnesty” plank.

The country will be living with continued economic problems for some time, and it is still unclear whether immigration will fade to the background or become a scapegoat for lost jobs. But the government will probably not tackle comprehensive immigration reform before it deals with the economy, which means that enforcing current laws will still be ICE’s focus.

Given his background, Barack Obama is probably conscious of the value that immigrants bring to the United States. He is also probably aware that the American climate since the September 11 attacks has not been friendly to immigrants, and that this hurts our image in the world. In a Washington Post op-ed, Council on Foreign Relations fellow Edward Alden notes that Canada, Australia and Japan are attracting more international students, even as the U.S. attracts fewer. Alden suggests that “putting out the welcome mat” be one of the Obama administration’s top priorities.

The first sign we have of what ICE would look like under Obama is that Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano is said to be his pick for Secretary of Homeland Security.

Arizona’s legislature has passed some of the harshest immigration laws in the country, and the state seems obsessed with protecting its 376-mile border. Napolitano is clearly more moderate than many in her state.

The Los Angeles Times reviewed her record, which showed that while she signed the 2007 employer sanctions bill reluctantly, she vetoed bills that would have required the police to enforce immigration laws and denied in-state tuition to undocumented college students. She opposed the border fence as ineffective, but she also called for the National Guard to be stationed at the border and for employers to be held accountable for hiring illegal workers.

The Napolitano selection suggests that immigration law enforcement will be a priority in the Obama administration. It also shows that the president-elect is looking for someone who knows the issue and will look at it from a middle ground. Given the political peril of dealing with immigration, a cool, moderate head would be a good thing.