This new immigration policy is a bold move - politically speaking.
If the spirit behind the new policy is “[t]hese young people did not make the decision to come to this country, and it is not the American way to punish children for their parents’ actions,” I am not clear on why it only applies to people under 30 or why the "deferred action" only lasts for two years.
Btw, I read that a reporter interrupted the President while he was giving his address in the Rose Garden on the new policy. Obama actually told the guy not to interrupt him.
Can you imagine? I don't know why I am still amazed by the disintegration of protocols that have occurred and continue to occur during his Presidency.WASHINGTON – President Obama is bypassing Congress and plans to immediately stop certain deportations and instead grant work permits to younger illegal immigrants, according to a policy shift unveiled by the White House on Friday.
President Obama plans to discuss it further on Friday afternoon in the Rose Garden.
The new policy will apply to illegal immigrants who are under 30, who arrived in the United States before they turned 16, and who have lived in the country for at least the last five years. They also cannot have a criminal record and must have either obtained a high school diploma or GED, or be serving in the military or honorably discharged.
If they meet those conditions, they can apply for a “deferred action” that for two years eliminates the threat of deportation, without granting citizenship. It will apply to as many as 800,000 immigrants.
The new policy, first reported by the Associated Press, was outlined in a memo by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.
The policy shift heightens the issue of immigration in the presidential campaign. Mitt Romney took a hard line stance on illegal immigration during the Republican primary race and has since been trying to make inroads with the Hispanic voters who make up a growing share of the electorate.
Romney has been planning on using a speech next Thursday, before the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, as a prominent venue to discuss anew his approach to immigration. President Obama is addressing the same group the following day.
Romney gave a speech this morning in New Hampshire as he launched a six-state bus tour, but he did not mention immigration. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Obama’s policy.
Obama is moving to make the policy change through an executive order, which bypasses Congress but could be overturned by a future administration.
The changes mirror some of those in the so-called Dream Act, which Democrats have been pushing for years. They do not, however, include a path to citizenship for the young immigrants, a core part of the Dream Act.
The new policy follows a bid by Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and potential vice presidential candidate, to craft a plan that would also allow work permits for certain immigrants.
Rubio said that while the announcement “will be welcome news for many of these kids desperate for an answer,” the way in which Obama is implementing it will make it more difficult to achieve a broader compromise.
“It is a short term answer to a long term problem,” he said. “And by once again ignoring the Constitution and going around Congress, this short term policy will make it harder to find a balanced and responsible long term one.”
Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who sponsored the Dream Act, called Obama’s decision “an historic humanitarian moment.”
“This action will give these young immigrants their chance to come out of the shadows and be part of the only country they’ve ever called home,” Durbin said. “These young people did not make the decision to come to this country, and it is not the American way to punish children for their parents’ actions.”
The move was also hailed by immigrant rights advocates, who still called for a more permanent change from Congress.
“To be clear, a permanent solution must be found that allows these young people to become full citizens,” said Benjamin Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council. “But until Congress acts, the deferred action program offers the breathing room needed to ensure that no more young lives are jeopardized through senseless deportations.”
The move is likely to be criticized by some Republicans, but the plan got an unwitting endorsement on Friday morning from an unlikely source. Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a top Republican, argued hours before the news broke on Friday morning that the immigration system needed to be fixed.
Many illegal immigrants, he said, are hard workers and are doing the jobs that most American citizens aren’t eager to do, using the example of poultry factories in the South. If all of those immigrants were deported, he said, those jobs would not be filled.
“There are many states with many, many Spanish-speaking people who came here illegally who have good jobs, who worked hard, who’ve got families, who paid taxes, and never committed a crime,” Barbour said during a breakfast with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “Rick Perry said during the campaign, I think very thoughtfully, somebody who’s got that kind of record here, tell them, ‘You can stay, here’s a two-year work permit.’”
