When the summer recess is over and Congress returns to Capitol Hill, will immigration reform remain a top priority for Democrats? While members of Congress have been sending mixed messages about exactly how hard they'll push for reform, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has pledged to introduce legislation before Labor Day.  And just this morning, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that she sees drafting such legislation as the most pressing issue on her department's agenda. Still, the White House itself has been somewhat slow to commit.

Today, seven Democratic members of Illinois' congressional delegation -- Reps. Mike Quigley, Danny Davis, Luis Gutierrez, Jan Schakowsky, Phil Hare, Jesse Jackson Jr., and Bobby Rush -- sent an open letter to President Obama urging him to add his political muscle to the immigration fight. "Letters like this push the agenda," Rep. Quigley said at a press conference today. "Our role as a congressmen is to help set the priorities." Watch:

As far as local immigration advocates are concerned, the goals for reforming the nation's immigration laws haven't changed since Obama took office.  The broad objective is to put the nation's 12 million undocumented immigrants on a path to citizenship.  Sen. Dick Durbin's Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors bill (the DREAM Act) is also sure to be a key part of any package.  Here's the outline included in the lawmakers' letter:

We must move forward with a commonsense, American solution that secures the border, protects the rights of all workers, and modernizes our legal immigration programs.  A key element of this reform is requiring all undocumented immigrants to register, go through background checks, pay taxes, and study English in order to obtain legal status and be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.

This comprehensive approach will not only secure our borders, level the playing field for workers, and stop dishonest employers from gaining an unfair advantage, but it will bring in critical revenue by integrating more people into the economy as workers, taxpayers, and consumers.  The other options – maintaining the status quo or trying to force 12 million illegal immigrants to leave the country – are neither viable nor desirable.

Rep. Gutierrez has been laying the groundwork for these reforms for months now. In May, he wrapped up his 21-state Family Unity Tour, which sought to energize elected officials and grassroots organizers to push for change. The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights is helping to keep the momentum going through its own legacy campaign. "We see progres," Gutierrez said today. "And it is time for the President to take on reform -- this year."