Image of male nurse pushing senior woman in a wheelchair in nursing facility

There’s healthcare reform, labor reform, energy reform and banking reform. Now the Obama administration has announced that it will be working on project: immigration reform.

During the campaign, Obama pledged to address the immigration issue in his first year in office, and start the process of providing legal status for as many as 12 million illegal immigrants, The New York Times reported. According to one senior administration official, Obama plans to begin work on the issue in earnest over the summer, when he will put together a number of working groups to discuss possible reform legislation. Some pundits and policymakers, however, are criticizing the president’s plans, noting that there are other, larger issues to face first.

Many in the long-term care field, which attracts many immigrants, are in favor of immigration reform. Republican opponents of the president’s plan say they will oppose any proposals that could help illegal immigrants keep jobs that could otherwise be filled by out of work Americans, according to the Times. For their part, Obama officials say they recognize the potential minefield in front of them, and are open to debate on the issue.