When Republicans
challenge the timing or merits of Immigration Reform, they are accused of
"POLITICIZING" the issue.
When the President delays implementation until after the election in November so as to not hurt Democrats, it's "ALTRUISTIC."
Read the NY Times article below and tell me I'm wrong!!
Ben Ferro,
Publisher
Obama Delays Immigration Action,
Yielding to Democratic Concerns
By Michael D. Shear, Sept. 6, 2014
The
decision is a reversal of Mr. Obama’s vow to issue broad directives to overhaul
the immigration system soon after summer’s end, and sparked swift anger from
immigration advocates. The president made the promise on June 30, in the Rose
Garden, where he angrily denounced Republican obstruction and said he would use
the power of his office to protect immigrant families from the threat of deportation.
“Because
of the Republicans’ extreme politicization of this issue, the president
believes it would be harmful to the policy itself and to the long-term
prospects for comprehensive immigration reform to announce administrative
action before the elections,” a White House official said. “Because he wants to
do this in a way that’s sustainable, the president will take action on
immigration before the end of the year.”
Cristina
Jimenez, the managing director for United We Dream, an immigration advocacy group,
accused Mr. Obama of “playing politics” with the lives of immigrant families
and said, “The president’s latest broken promise is another slap to the face of
the Latino and immigrant community.”
Administration
officials insist that Mr. Obama is more determined than ever to take action —
eventually. But the president and his top aides have concluded that an
immigration announcement before November could anger conservatives across the
country, possibly cripple Democratic efforts to retain control of the Senate
and severely set back any hope for progress on a permanent immigration
overhaul.
In
particular, advisers to Mr. Obama believe that an announcement before the
midterm elections in November would inject the controversial issue into a
highly charged campaign environment that would encourage members of both
parties to take more hard-line positions on the issue than they normally would.
That could
drive away support for what the president’s advisers believe are common-sense
changes to the immigration system, even among Democrats. One adviser said that
if immigration was seen as costing Democrats control of the Senate — even if
other issues were really to blame — immigration could become toxic for years in
both parties, much like gun control did after the issue was blamed for
Democratic losses in 1994.
The
combustible nature of the immigration debate was demonstrated over the summer
when the border crossings of unaccompanied children from Central America quickly became a highly charged
partisan issue. Democrats on Capitol Hill warned the White House to deal with
that issue before announcing broader immigration changes.
Mr. Obama
acknowledged that the surge in unaccompanied children at the border undermined
public support for a broader immigration overhaul. He said delaying any
executive action would give the administration more time to get the policy
right and explain it to the public.
“I’m going
to act because it’s the right thing for the country,” Mr. Obama said in an
interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” to be broadcast Sunday. “But it’s going
to be more sustainable and more effective if the public understands what the
facts are on immigration, what we’ve done on unaccompanied children, and why
it’s necessary.”
The
president and his team believe that waiting until after the election season is
over will allow him to unveil sweeping and sustainable changes to the
immigration system that could potentially shield millions of illegal immigrants
from deportation and provide work permits for many.
“The
president is confident in his authority to act, and he will before the end of
the year,” one official said, speaking anonymously to discuss White House
strategy.
The
president made calls to political allies and others to discuss the decision
during Friday’s long flight on Air Force One as he returned from Europe after a NATO summit meeting.
On
Saturday, Republicans quickly attacked Mr. Obama’s decision, calling it a
cynical ploy to avoid letting voters express their opinions on his plan to use
executive power on the issue.
“The
decision to simply delay this deeply controversial and possibly
unconstitutional unilateral action until after the election — instead of
abandoning the idea altogether — smacks of raw politics,” Speaker John A.
Boehner of Ohio said.
Senator
Lamar Alexander Tennessee, said, “The founders of our country did not want a
king, and the American people do not want a president who acts like one.” He
called Mr. Obama’s decision a “shameful presidential trick.”
The delay
also is angering Hispanic activists who have been pressing Mr. Obama for months
to sidestep Congress. Leaders of several immigration groups said their members
would be furious with the president for raising — and then dashing — their
hopes. They criticized Mr. Obama for the delay, saying it breaks a solemn
pledge to immigrants.
Arturo
Carmona, the executive director of Presente.org, called the decision “a
betrayal” of the Latino community and “shameful.” He said the president “is
once again demonstrating that for him, politics come before the lives of Latino
and immigrant families.”
And Mary
Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, said:
“Today, we are deeply disheartened that the dreams of hard-working immigrant
families who have long contributed to the fabric of the American life remain in
jeopardy. The White House’s decision to delay executive action forces countless
families to continue to wait in the shadows of fear.”
The
president’s decision on Saturday underscores the difficulties of his broader pledge
to use the powers of his office to govern in the face of a gridlocked Congress.
Those efforts have already sparked a Republican lawsuit alleging that the
president has abused his authority and is building an “imperial presidency.”
And he has faced intense political pressure from his Democratic allies to delay
such actions.
The timing
of an announcement had developed into a serious political problem for the
president. By saying he would act on his own, Mr. Obama heightened expectations
among Hispanics that he would finally address the deportation fears of 11
million illegal immigrants, many of whom have been in the United States for decades and have been
law-abiding members of their communities.
Since Mr.
Obama took office, his administration has significantly increased the number of
deportations, especially along the border with Mexico . Immigration advocates have
complained that families are being torn apart when parents or children who are
in the country illegally are arrested and sent home.
For years,
Mr. Obama said the solution to the deportations was an overhaul of immigration
laws. When that effort failed, he said he would act on his own. The anger over
the delay is certain to intensify in the coming days. But Mr. Obama’s advisers
appear to have convinced him that he will be able to win back the support of
immigrant activists — and create a personal legacy on the issue — as long as he
acts boldly after the midterm elections.
History
suggests the president’s advisers may be right about the short-term memory.
For years,
Mr. Obama promised increasingly impatient advocates for gay and lesbian rights
that he would repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on serving
in the armed forces. When he finally pushed through an end to the policy in December
2010, gay Americans hailed the action.
In his
first term, Mr. Obama earned the scorn of immigrants brought to the United States as children and were demanding an
end to their deportations. But when he created a program to shield them from
deportations in 2012, much was forgiven.
The
president’s aides said he was certain to take action after the election, but
they have declined to say specifically what actions he is considering or how
many people they could affect. Mr. Obama said on Friday that he had begun
reviewing options and recommendations from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
and Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security.
Among the
possibilities that officials have explored is the unilateral expansion of a
program that would provide many illegal immigrants with work permits to allow
them to legally live and work in the country indefinitely.
The
president’s pledge in June had committed him to acting in the weeks before the
midterm elections, when a half-dozen Democratic senators must face the voters.
Sensing a potentially powerful issue, Republicans have repeatedly accused Mr.
Obama of preparing to usurp power from Congress and of wildly overstepping the
authority of his office.
As
Election Day drew closer, nervous Democratic senators in a few states told
White House officials that Mr. Obama’s actions could cost them victory. Those
conversations culminated in the decision to delay immigration action.
Reprinted from the New York Times
Send your
comments to me at benferro@insideins.com
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