In the middle of a massive economic downturn, when millions of Americans are losing their jobs and many more are struggling to pay their bills, the Obama Administration will push for amnesty for 12 million illegal aliens, the New York Times reports this evening. The plan for a permanent Democratic majority won’t be inhibited by a bad economy, dangerous world, broken Social Security system, or a plethora of other major issues. 

While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country’s immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.

Mr. Obama will frame the new effort — likely to rouse passions on all sides of the highly divisive issue — as “policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system,” said the official, Cecilia Muñoz, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House.

Mr. Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May, administration officials said, and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.

Democratic aides even acknowledge that introducing such a polarizing issue could seriously damage Obama’s ability to pursue the rest of his domestic agenda. Giving permanent access to jobs for illegal aliens when millions of Americans are unemployed is going to be a tough sell, concurs Roy Beck of NumbersUSA, an anti-amnesty group. 

This seems like a stupid move for Obama’s first year in office. Anti-amnesty Democrats and Independents aren’t exactly unheard of, and the administration risks pitting them against Obama within his first few months in office. It also hands Republicans a free issue to run on in 2010. Perhaps Mr. Obama should spend more time dealing with a faltering economy and less time worrying about ensuring a permanent lefty majority by legalizing millions of illegal aliens who will vote Democrat.