Tuesday night, on the 24th of January, 2012, the President of the United States delivered his State of the Union Address before a joint session of Congress. The speech is not just another campaign ploy or attack ad – it’s a constitutional requirement (more or less). It specifies that the president disclose information about how the Union is doing and his plans for the future of the country.

The president started the night with a nod to war veterans and the implied victories in Iraq and Afghanistan. The most pressing thing on his agenda, however, was the economy. He talked a lot about lowering taxes and regulations and the way in which he believes this will promote the economy and the betterment of the Union as a whole. He brought up student loan debt as well as mortgage refinancing, outsourcing of jobs, the apparent, recent success of the manufacturing sectors, and a whole host of other economic topics. All was standard fare in this department.

Of particular interest was the president’s address to the immigrant population:

The president stated that “election-year politics [kept] Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan,” effectively blaming delegates and representatives for not taking on a controversial and divisive topic. It seems, however, that he’s encouraging his Legislative branch to step up its game in the coming year to get behind a comprehensive plan for these types of children and students. The aim, of course, is to beef up the American workforce in which “Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job.” This industry vacuum is theoretically enough to reduce a lot of the nation’s unemployment concerns among the non-immigrant population as well as the immigrant population.

The executive branch seems eager to take on the immigration issue on both legal and illegal fronts, but it stands to question whether it is because he genuinely wants to take on the topic or because he wants his republican rivals to take on the topic. The current front-runners all have interesting views ranging from Mitt Romney’s “self-deportation” outlook, to Ron Paul’s “generous immigration” stance, but none are nearly as generous as President Obama’s. There is clear division in the Republican Party about the issue, and this would likely either stir up republican voters to go for an independent candidate or the Republican candidate to take a much harsher stance on the issue – solidifying the Hispanic/Latino/wider immigrant vote for the president and the Democratic Party.

One thing’s for sure, this President means business about increasing government presence and solutions – and he sure seems to be ready to pass some sort of comprehensive immigration reform.