New York Times
By Michael D. Shear
September 6, 2014
WASHINGTON
— President Obama will delay taking executive action on immigration
until after the midterm elections, bowing to pressure from fellow
Democrats who feared that
acting now could doom his party’s chances this fall, White House
officials said on Saturday.
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 Alaska,
Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina told White House officials that
Mr. Obama’s actions could cost
them victory. Those conversations culminated in the decision to delay
immigration action.
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