International Business Times
By Brianna Lee
November 10, 2014
President
Barack Obama’s vow to unilaterally act on immigration reform before the
end of the year is accelerating the turmoil between the president and
the new Republican-controlled Congress.
The impending blame game over immigration may also complicate other
legislative measures in the works, including the confirmation of
attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, threatening to bring about yet
another era of congressional gridlock.
Obama,
speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, reiterated his pledge to
move forward on unilateral action in light of the stalled comprehensive
immigration bill in Congress. “I’m going
to do what I can do on executive action,” he said. “It’s not going to
be everything that needs to get done. And it will take time to put that
into place.” Meanwhile, he added, any immigration reform bill passed by
Congress would supersede those executive orders.
The
president’s remarks exuded defiance against several prominent GOP
lawmakers who warned that executive action would damage the chances of
Congress cooperating with the White House on comprehensive
reform legislation. “If he acts alone, he will poison the well, and
there will be no chance of immigration reform moving forward in the
country,” House Speaker John Boehner said last week. “It’s as simple as
that.” Republican National Committee Chair Reince
Priebus has also likened executive action to a “nuclear threat” for
comprehensive reform.
Last
year, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill drafted by a
bipartisan group of lawmakers, but the bill has since stalled in the
Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Some GOP lawmakers had said they would work to pass immigration reform
if Republicans took back Senate control in the midterm elections, but
executive action may very well thwart that effort.
Meanwhile,
the immigration standoff could extend to other issues. Two Republicans,
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, have signaled that they
would question Obama’s nominee for
attorney general, Loretta Lynch, over the legality of Obama’s executive
action plans, hinting that they may seek to block her confirmation if
she does not “demonstrate full and complete commitment to the law.”
Cruz,
Lee and a handful of other Republicans are also arguing for Lynch’s
confirmation to be delayed until the newly elected members of Congress
take office in January, rather than during
the remaining lame duck session. If they get their way, the
Republican-controlled Senate will likely present a tough obstacle to
confirming Lynch, who would be the U.S.’s first African-American female
attorney general.
A
potential expansion of deportation relief for undocumented immigrants
lies at the heart of the political battle over immigration. Although
Obama has not disclosed any of his plans for executive
action, he is reportedly considering granting temporary reprieve from
deportation and work permits to potentially millions of undocumented
immigrants. He already granted these protections to half a million
immigrants through the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also issued by executive order. Observers expect him
to extend a similar program to undocumented relatives of U.S. citizens,
and potentially relatives of DACA recipients as well.
Republicans
have already decried DACA as an overreach of presidential authority,
and the GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill in August
to repeal it in a largely symbolic
gesture. Meanwhile, Obama has been facing a barrage of criticism from
immigration advocates over his decision to delay acting on immigration.
He had originally announced plans to act unilaterally this summer,
saying he would issue the orders sometime after
Labor Day, but delayed the move for fear that it would hurt Democratic
candidates in the midterm elections.
Obama
acknowledged that the current immigration system – including his own
deportation policies – was broken. “I prefer and still prefer to see
[immigration reform] done through Congress,
but every day that I wait we're misallocating resources,” he said
during his Sunday appearance on “Face the Nation.” “We're deporting
people that shouldn't be deported. We're not deporting folks that are
dangerous and need to be deported.”
The
comments were a stark contrast to Obama’s assertion three years ago
that the government was focusing on “deporting serious criminals, gang
bangers, and drug dealers and setting aside non-criminals
with deep roots in the U.S. until Congress fixes our laws,”
highlighting the sluggish pace of immigration reform efforts during his
time in office. More than 2 million undocumented immigrants have been
deported during Obama’s presidency.
Immigration
advocates, meanwhile, are still calling on Obama to act boldly and
swiftly. “Let’s be clear: Republicans have no actual intention to act on
immigration reform next Congress. They
just don’t want the president to act either,” said Lynn Tramonte,
deputy director of advocacy group America’s Voice, in a statement. “The
only way this country will see real progress on immigration policy over
the next two years is if President Obama keeps
his promise and makes sweeping changes ASAP.”
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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