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Odio delivers what some called an odious message

A White House staffer, Carlos Odio, reportedly delivered some unwelcome news during three local meetings

A White House staffer, Carlos Odio, reportedly delivered some unwelcome news during three local meetings with about 70 or 80 “activists, politicians, and business people,” many of whom are desperate to know what President Obama plans to do about U.S. immigration policy.

To be specific, many of those attending the meetings wanted to hear about when the president intends to get around to addressing the issue head on in Congress.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to New Times reporter Stephen Lemons, several sources said they were unhappy about Odio’s message.

One person who attended the closed meetings commented: “Odio said they’re not going to start talking about immigration reform until this fall; which means nothing is going to happen until after next year, because next year is an election year. No one’s going to touch a hot button like immigration in an election year.”

Local pro-immigrant activists and civil rights leaders want federal officials to cancel an agreement with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio that grants county deputies and other local police agencies nationwide the authority to enforce federal immigration law.

Lemons wrote: “Odio refused to make any commitment regarding revoking or suspending Arpaio’s 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement… When challenged on this issue,” according to Lemons’ source, “Odio stated that Arpaio was being investigated by the Department of Justice, and that he could not comment beyond that.”

In a statement, the White House says it remains on track to address immigration reform this year.

Former Arizona Senator Alfredo Gutierrez, a Democrat, told Lemons, “(The meeting was) clearly sort of a self-congratulatory thing. People sort of clapping each other on the back... Finally, I spoke up... I said, `Yeah, there’s something you can do, revoke Arpaio’s goddamn 287(g)!’ It seemed to shock everybody in the room.”

Gutierrez, Lemons wrote, predicted that if the Obama administration does not take a strong stand on immigration reform, it could face losses to the Republicans in some Congressional districts next year.

Another source who attended the meetings, according to Lemons, “indicated that the Dream Act” a proposed law that would allow undocumented children to remain in the U.S. if they graduate from high school and pursue higher education or serve in the military, “would have to wait until after comprehensive immigration reform is passed.”