President Barack Obama presented a timeline for the debate on the immigration reform – the final decisions are to be expected at the beginning of next year. At the same time the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano is talking about an aggressive policy against illegal immigrants.

Both the administration and the Congress are walking a very fine line. The idea of introducing an immigration reform, which is described by the opponents as a form of amnesty, is not very popular with the American society. Foreigners are less and less welcome because of the situation in the job market and the rising unemployment. Congressmen and senators are fully aware of the attitudes across the nation and it actually seems unlikely that they will have the majority to pass the bill.

Making the immigration policies harder on foreigners is supposed to be an argument proving that the administration is not only intending to enable the path to citizenship for millions of people, but, at the same time, that it takes border security issues seriously. One of the premises of the immigration reform is to make it more acceptable for the majority by installing a security system that will help prevent the phenomenon of a growing population of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

However, Napolitano's declaration reveals that the current administration is acting a bit schizophrenically. On the one hand, President Barack Obama says that the present immigration system is dysfunctional and requires fast and complex changes. On the other, he says he will enforce the current law more ardently than the administration of George W. Bush, which also tried to implement changes to the system and create so-called "paths to citizenship" for undocumented immigrants. Meanwhile, the number of deported and detained foreigners is much higher this year than before.

An opponent of the immigration reform could say: Dura lex, sed lex, the law is harsh but the law should prevail; however, the results of such a strategy could turn out to be very costly socially. Tightening control in work places and the increase in the number of deportations will push undocumented immigrants further to the margins of social life.

What is more, because of the 287 (g) regulation, which determines that local police has to cooperate with federal immigration agents, undocumented immigrants will do anything to avoid contact with the police; their lack of cooperation – the undocumented population is large and not wealthy – may result in a surge in crime and fear and a decline in security.

In the darkest nightmare scenario, we may never get immigration reform, which will leave the country with several million people who live with an increasing sense of alienation. After all, the notion that all undocumented immigrants will leave the United States once they are told to is only a political fantasy.