After a year's time and only after monumental effort, President Obama has at last forced the issue of healthcare reform – supported by the popular will. Next year, under the shadow of midterm elections, will he manage to convince both houses of Congress to tackle the even more incendiary immigration reform problem? Not likely.

The chances of passing immigration reform next year are slim and getting slimmer – in fact, this spring may be the only window. Hence Illinois Democrat Luis Gutierrez's eagerness to formulate a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the House before the end of the year, so the issue will lay on the Senate's plate as soon as they convene in January.

The Obama administration has professed support for immigration reform, but since Obama took office he has lingered on the sidelines, never entering the fray.

The polemics raging around whether undocumented immigrants can purchase their own health insurance as part of the healthcare reform package is an indication of how hard it will be to push through a naturalization bill.

Because getting such a bill through the Senate would be the steepest hurdle, Congressional backers of immigration reform are planning to put the issue before the Senate first. Then, if it passes, the House will begin deliberations.

Ideally, early next year Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security, will put forth a version of the immigration bill endorsed by the Obama administration, which will first be considered by the Senate and then by the House. These events must all take place before the end of the spring, or else midterm elections will be too close for comfort.

Midterm elections will play a decisive role in the battle for immigration reform. At present, the Democrats are not expected to keep their 60-seat hold on the Senate, and they may lose a number of seats in the House as well; therefore, Obama has focused his efforts on passing healthcare reform this year, believing it most important and most likely to define his legacy. When midterm elections near, Congressional Democrats are unlikely to want to ignite the powder magazine of immigration reform, which could mean political suicide.

According to Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the unemployment rate was 4.2 percent back in 2007 when Congress first considered immigration reform. Even then the bill did not pass. Now with unemployment at a giddy 10 percent, chances aren't good that undocumented immigrants will be granted naturalization on the spot, allowing them to compete for precious work opportunities.