You might not have heard that Barack Obama was actually busy legislating today (you know, that thing we pay him and Hilary to do right now). He was on Capitol Hill, not in Selma, taking up immigration policy, not telling untrue love stories about his parents. After a press conference to introduce legislation that would make it easier for documented immigrants to gain full citizenship, most of the Q&A time was spent grilling Obama on some hopped up faux-scandal about how he invested his book profits (Apparently, he and his wife only just finished paying off their student loans). At any rate here’s what MALDEF had to say in a press release about the new bill:

"As Congress begins to debate comprehensive immigration reform, it is equally important that Congress remove obstacles to citizenship faced by legal immigrants who have lived in the United States and paid taxes for years," stated MALDEF President and General Counsel John Trasviña at a Capitol Hill press conference with the bill’s key sponsors U.S. Senator Barack Obama and Representative Luis Gutierrez.

This would seem like a no-brainer: if you’ve followed the amazing web of expensive and arcane procedures put in front of you by INS, you should, in fact, be able to get your SS card and pledge allegiance and get on with your life. But as we’ve reported here before, the restrictions are getting harder and not easier. *Golf claps* to Barack for taking a substantive stand and putting his weight behind an issue that matters. (Though I haven’t quite forgotten about that whole “hey let’s vote for the wall on the border” lunacy he’ll be hoping I let slide in a few months). Did I mention that was lunacy? Yeah, I think I did. Oh and for more on Barack beyond the hype, check out our superstar new contributor Dorian Warren’s new piece in COLORLINES…