On Wednesday, when President Obama presented his vision during the State of the Union, he spoke about the need to address the fiscal deficit in our nation's budget; but there is another deficit that the president needs to attend to. President Obama is suffering from a deficit of leadership on the topic of immigration reform. The immigrant community is deeply disappointed with the superficial mention of the need to fix our immigration system.

When the President mentioned the need to "continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system," he did not mention the $1.5 trillion that immigration reform would generate for the economy or the security it would bring to the workers that work for unscrupulous employers and to our economy. The President also forgot to speak about the result that inaction on the part of his administration could have for our national security, as there are an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows in our country. At the same time, the President failed to mention anything about the human impact that the deportation of immigrant workers is having on thousands of families – most with American relatives. At his current pace, the President will deport more that 400,000 immigrants in his first year, many more than President George W. Bush.

As the President said on Wednesday, his campaign slogan was "change" and we know that creating change in Washington is difficult but necessary. Now is the moment that the Latino and immigrant communities must assume leadership and show that change is not just a desire but a reality. If you want to achieve change with the President and our allies in Congress, then we have to support them, hitting the streets, using the Internet and making calls. But Mr. President, we need your leadership.

He himself said, "To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades and the people expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills." We agree with that sentiment, and the Latino community hopes that the immigration problem is resolved. Running for the hills is not an option we will tolerate. Democrats must use the power that Latinos helped achieve, because if they do not, there will be a different result in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

On March 21, thousands of us will march on Washington to show our commitment to immigration reform and to demand leadership and action from our leaders in Washington. I hope that you all will join us.

Yes, we can!