Keywords or Terms:
President Obama; DREAM ACT; Executive Order; Halting Deportation; Illegal
immigrants; Amnesty; Path to Citizenship; Gov. Mitt Romney, Green Card;
Advanced Degree Holders; Military Service; Constitutional Authority.
Change: the nation found itself with the
greatest revolutionary change regarding how America treats its immigrants or
addresses the issue of undocumented immigrants. At stake was the issue of
continued existence of close to twelve million undocumented immigrants in the United States. To
bring about the promised change, President Obama did what he felt is possible
in the absence of congressional support for an immigration reform bill. What
President Obama did for undocumented immigrants, some of whom are
disproportionately classified as Latinos and or Hispanics are as follows: 1)
Halt future deportations of undocumented immigrants under the age of thirty who
can arguably show they arrived in the United States before their 16th
birthdays; 2) Allow for work authorization for the next two years for younger
undocumented immigrants, as long as they hold a GED, have no felony convictions
and no more than two misdemeanor convictions. Will this amnesty or waiver
involve appreciable change in the way the nation considers the issue of illegal
immigration? Or, will it change the President’s fortune with Latinos and Hispanic
communities with legal voting rights across the nation?
Regarding the first question, the President has masterfully
attempted to change the discussions on illegal immigration during an election
year, especially by creating a barrier block between Latinos and Hispanic voters
and the presumptive Republican Nominee. To concerned Latinos and Hispanic voters,
here is what the President has done on the nation’s immigration problem: 1)
without usurping constitutional authority of congress, he has chosen to ignore
congressional mandate on enforcements of existing law by issuing an executive
order; an order that has gained greater appeal among many independent voters, many of whom are Latinos
and Hispanics; 2) rejuvenated hope for close to one million affected parties or
undocumented immigrants, who are living here for reasons beyond their fault; 3)
Make good on the implementation of some of the provisions of the DREAM Act
(Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act), that has been advanced
as one of the legs of the tripod solution to the issue of illegal immigration; and,
4) Arouse once again, an interest in addressing a national problem that Republicans
are astutely against, especially the Tea Party group in the Republican Party.
The President articulated these points as he contrasted his
speech against Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans before the National
Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. His argument, as trite
as critics may want many of us to believe, is indeed a change from where the
nation was about a week and a half ago, on the issue of illegal immigration. He
attempted to walk a fine line between sounding critical and probably dismissive
of his opponent’s argument over what has transpired since his election in 2008;
precisely, the state of the economy and how it has impacted people of various
political persuasions.
Since he released the executive order, reactions from voters
have been either positive or negative, with majority independent groups
affirming support for the new policy. For whatever insightfulness the order has
garnered, the Republicans remain unsatisfied with how the President has gone
about resolving this issue temporarily, calling it, either an amnesty or a path
to citizenship. A few, including Republican Representative Steve King, have
sworn to file a suit challenging the President’s authority to effectively
conduct an immigration policy; hoping to undo the President’s authority to
bypass congress. The dynamics of the executive order and criticisms from the
Republicans are these: the immigration issue has been entangled in the campaign
for the oval office; and, the question over whose side the Latino voters are
likely to default come November 6, 2012. Now, going by the reception of the
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials in the outgoing
week in Florida,
one is tempted to give an edge to President Barack Obama.
The politics of the executive order is that it places the
presumptive Republican Nominee, Mitt Romney, in a box. With the Press on his
heels for response, the presumptive Republican nominee has not been able to
fathom an effective response to the President’s order. When pressed by CBS Bob
Shaffer, if he will change the President’s executive order if elected, all
Governor Romney said is that whatever he is going to initiate with respect to
illegal immigration under his administration, will effectively overtake the executive
order. Pressed even further and harder, if he will repeal the supposed amnesty,
Mitt Romney failed to make a commitment.
Political pundits indicate that the reason why Romney has
been unable to give an upfront response is because he is aligned with the Tea
Party faction in the Republican Party. Supporters of the President executive
order, indicate that the order is a ray of hope for many youthful Latinos and
or Hispanics, who have been languishing in somewhat of a hopeless limbo, before
the order. Quoting one of the supporters of the President’s action, this
actually indicates that he truly gets it - the greatest concern of nearly all undocumented
immigrants at this time, is the fear that their families will be broken apart,
if the United States government continues to deport at the very unprecedented
rate under President Obama.
Changing the Law: Supporters of the executive
order further indicate that President Obama not only brought about renewed
interests in resolving the immigration problem, but also huge insightfulness
that could change the debate on how to move forward regarding resolution of
illegal immigration, when congress gets around to debating the issue.
Unfortunately, Senate republican leader Mitch McConnell insists that if the
executive order leads to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, then it is
arguably an amnesty; and, Republicans are truly against that. Rep. Allen West
(R-Fla) sees the executive order as a backdoor opportunity to allow people to
vote; Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Chairman of House Judiciary Committee,
interprets the executive order as a breach of faith with the American People;
an executive ploy that blatantly ignores the rule of law; and, a huge policy
shift that may serve as a magnet for undocumented immigrants and amnesty.
Many objective observers or independent voters see the
President’s action as a last ditch effort to get things done in the absence of
true support for immigration reform from both chambers of congress. We now know
that the Dream Act, S. 2205, initially introduced in Oct, 2007, by Senator Dick
Durbin, and Co-sponsored by Charles Hagel and Richard Lugar, remains out there
for deliberation or consideration. We also know that the 2010 re-introduced New Dream Act, Bill
S.3992, with numerous changes to S.2205, is also out there for attention. Further, it is no
secret that in May 2011, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reintroduced the
DREAM Act, with former supporters, Senator John McCain (R-AZ); Jon Kyl (R-AZ);
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senator John Corny (R-TX), holding back their initial
support for the bill. No wonder the bill failed to carry the required
votes to prevent a filibuster in congress. In addition, if the State of California
is able to accomplish passing the DREAM Act in their state within a short time
of consideration, why is anyone blaming the President for issuing out an
executive order, or doing part of what Congress has failed to do, which
effectively brings a dream to reality for close to one million young
undocumented immigrants? For the records, there are about three pieces of legislation and an executive order that congress can begin to act on, right
this moment, if they want to correct for whatever anomaly or disagreements they
have with the President issuing an executive order.
Complicated politics: Attempt by Democrats under President Obama to
pass the Dream Act in 2010 lame-duck session met some vociferous antagonism
from Republicans. As the presumptive Republican Nominee was striving to boost his image
with the Latinos and or Hispanics this week, he is probably finding out that the
hard-core conservative Republican stance on undocumented immigrants is hardly
going to work. This is probably one reason, why Mitt Romney sees the executive
order as an attempt by President Obama to secure Hispanic votes, in a tight election
landscape. In an attempt to win over more Latino voter for his aspiration for
the White House, Mitt Romney advances the following hyperbolas: give green cards to advanced degree holders
and those who serve in the Military. His stance on self deportation by illegal
immigrants remains. While criticizing President Obama for advancing the
amnesty order only to curry votes from Hispanics, Mitt Romney failed to offer details of his own proposals
that Latinos and or Hispanics can believe in; and, which might help him make
inroads into Latinos and or Hispanic votes, come November
There are some apprehensive supporters of Mitt Romney’s
campaign, who say, it is probably too late, if not completely infeasible for
Mitt Romney to recalibrate his statement during the Republican Party Primaries.
One will recall that in the heat of the Republican Nomination debates and
process, aspirant Mitt Romney said that those illegal immigrants will self
depot. A laughable proposal, which critics’ retort, those who self-deport can
easily self-reenter as usual! When another Republican aspirant, Governor Rick Perry
of the State of Texas,
cautioned about such a proposal, he was effectively ridiculed by Republican
conservatives who support aggressive anti-illegal immigration stance. To this
group, Mitt Romney’s position was best; and, Rick Perry’s, a disdain and
unacceptable! The chicken has finally come to rousts towards the general
election, as it has become rather difficult for Governor Mitt Romney to do an
Etch-A-Sketch on the immigration issue.
Summing it up – changes in the immigration landscape appear
to have crept into the 2012 Presidential Campaign politics and no one can stop
it now. It is disheartening to realize that the President had resorted to an
executive order to accomplish what the United States Congress has failed to do.
To hackle the President for issuing the executive order; or, bastardize his
action as circumventing the constitution, may actually be naïve, since the
constitution gives the Presidency the power to issue executive order as it
deems fit, absent Congressional authority. Two things that are incontrovertible
from here on, the executive order from the Presidency will remain for the next
two years as long as President Obama remains in office. The executive order may
have changed the President’s fortune for the better with Latinos and the
Hispanics in the Presidential Campaign for 2012.
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