Obama to use Executive Action on Immigration

This guy makes a great case against doing this...





"I'm President, I'm not king. I can't do these things just by myself."

"I'm not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed."

"Well, I think it is important to remind everybody that, as I said I think previously, and I'm not a king. I am the head of the executive branch of government. I'm required to follow the law."

"Well, look Jacky, this is something that I've struggled with throughout my presidency. The problem is that, you know, I'm the president of the United States. I'm not the emperor of the United States."

"With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that's just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed — and I know that everybody here at Bell is studying hard so you know that we've got three branches of government. Congress passes the law. The executive branch's job is to enforce and implement those laws. And then the judiciary has to interpret the laws.
There are enough laws on the books by Congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system that for me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as president."


Soooo...I wonder if we will have to call him King or Emperor now.

My great grandparents came here to work and did so. They said all the same things about them that they say about illegals today. It's embarrassing. Immigration is a strength of ours not a weakness. Republicans have no plan. Sounds a lot like when slave owners wanted to send slaves back to Africa. It's just impossible. You can't deport millions of people. 2nd class citizenship does nothing to help assimilation.

We know you don't like anything the President does. What's the plan Max? Better plan?

Turn 'em into food to feed the legal poor.

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IKVj4l5GU4

WTF? Since when am i opposed to immigration?

Maximus said:

WTF? Since when am i opposed to immigration?

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What has changed? Why good prewar, bad post war? I just asked what the plan is.

You are a republican, we know that. I get it. You realize the party is held hostage by evangelicals and tea partiers. Are you down with those guys? Their plan is for everyone to voluntarily go back home and try to do it the right way. Even those families who have kids who are us citizens. That will never ever happen. It's just stupid.


I'm not republican or a democrat. I'm a pragmatist, and I haven't heard a single plan that makes sense.

Nafta destroyed Mexico's economy and made the United states a lot of money and now we whine about immigration. It's a joke.

Cavatt makes a strong case... what else really can be done?

Simon said:

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seriously every president for the last 8 has issued an executive order about immigration.

we get it, he's black.

bob2the2nd said:

we get it, he's black.

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posts like these serve reminders as why i don't post in off topic political threads anymore

gourimoko said:

Cavatt makes a strong case... what else really can be done?

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I think this is at the heart of the Republicans fear over having to legislate. Exec orders aren't the story. These steps Obama took are super conservative and pragmatic and ultimately necessary. Now the Right is in the position of either ceding Immigration as an issue to the Democrats (and getting hammered with it all 2015-16) or passing an Immigration bill in 2015 to change the actual laws. I don't think the Republicans are capable of drafting an Immigration policy within their party and they know it- this is why they are pissed. Obama is playing this right - any debate about Immigration policy is going to expose the internal republicans/tea party fractures for all to see.

Cavatt said:

My great grandparents came here to work and did so. They said all the same things about them that they say about illegals today. It's embarrassing. Immigration is a strength of ours not a weakness. Republicans have no plan. Sounds a lot like when slave owners wanted to send slaves back to Africa. It's just impossible. You can't deport millions of people. 2nd class citizenship does nothing to help assimilation.

We know you don't like anything the President does. What's the plan Max? Better plan?

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There is a difference, blacks had no say in the matter to begin with. Im quite sure they would have much rather stayed in their own country. Its not even comparable and it makes me nauseous when people try to compare the two.

There is nothing wrong with immigration, illegal immigration on the other hand.... thats another story.
Not saying that this particular move didnt need to be done but over all, this is really an issue that needs to be fixed

Cavatt said:

My great grandparents came here to work and did so. They said all the same things about them that they say about illegals today. It's embarrassing. Immigration is a strength of ours not a weakness. Republicans have no plan.

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That is just false. There are divisions in the party, with the Wall Street wing willing to do anything that means cheap labor. But the rest of the party is in complete agreement on one thing -- securing the border must come first. If you don't have a secure border, there is no way in hell to reliably distinguish who has been here for a long time, and who hasn't. After all, these are people who all lied on their I-9 forms to get jobs, and were aided/abetted by others who were here legally. Why would they be any less willing to lie about how long they've been here?

The Republican plan -- that passed the House -- requires that the border first be secured. Once that happens, then you take steps to deal with the people who are already here. There are some in the party who oppose legalizing anyone, but that's a distinct minority. The majority position is much more conciliatory towards folks who are already here, but border security must come first.

Obama has refused to do that, instead insisting on a "comprehensive" deal that includes both legalization and border security. There are two problems with reaching a "comprehensive" agreement, though. The first is that while legalization is executory -- meaning that it is effective the moment the law is passed -- border security is not. It is an ongoing process that only begins after the law is past. And what happened with IRCA in 1986 was that Republicans agreed to legalization in exchange for border security, but the Democrat-controlled Congress subsequently refused to fulfill their border security end of the deal. It's the equivalent of paying a contractor his entire payment up front, and then just hoping he comes through. Even worse, though, because while you can always sue the contractor, there is no remedy if the other side refuses to come through on a political deal.

The second problem is Obama himself. A majority of Republicans in the House -- and in the public at large -- rightly don't trust the President to follow through on promises of border security. After all, he already has demonstrated multiple times that he will not enforce laws with which he doesn't agree. So if the GOP goes along with a comprehensive deal, the likely result is that Obama gets legalization, then refuses to enforce the border security provision. That is the reason the Senate bill justifiably died in the House.

What the new GOP Congress will likely do is send Obama a tough, stand-alone border security bill -- the kind that Reid wouldn't let come to a vote in the Senate -- and force him to veto it. Which will piss voters off to no end, because border security is something that polls extremely high.

bob2the2nd said:

we get it, he's black.

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So all of us who disagree with it are just racists, huh? We'd have no problem with this exact action if Obama were white. Despite being rude and condescending as hell, you're also ill-informed.

Maybe you weren't yet born, but the IRCA deal in 1986 was opposed by a lot of Republicans who thought it was a bad deal, and blasted Reagan for it. Reagan later said it was the biggest mistake of his Presidency.

Dubya also tried to pass immigration reform, but again encountered heavy resistances from within his own party and so could not get it passed.

Oh, and in case you missed the point, Reagan and Bush were both white.

The Human Q-Tip said:

The Republican plan -- that passed the House -- requires that the border first be secured.

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Purposefully vague.

The Human Q-Tip said:

So all of us who disagree with it are just racists, huh? We'd have no problem with this exact action if Obama were white. Despite being rude and condescending as hell, you're also ill-informed.

Maybe you weren't yet born, but the IRCA deal in 1986 was opposed by a lot of Republicans who thought it was a bad deal, and blasted Reagan for it. Reagan later said it was the biggest mistake of his Presidency.

Dubya also tried to pass immigration reform, but again encountered heavy resistances from within his own party and so could not get it passed.

Oh, and in case you missed the point, Reagan and Bush were both white.

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the point of the matter is what in the world is the difference between what obama is doing, and what any of the other presidents did? they are using executive order to make immigration changes as they see fit. He has ask congress, repeatedly, to come together to present him somethign he can sign. STILL. WAITING. Because we all know that congress as a whole will never come together for anythign-not even benefits for soldiers.

so why is it a total shock when Obama takes matters into his own hands, something literally every other president has done over the last 50 years. So if some idiot wants to try and bring a lawsuit against him. i say go for it. youre allowed to disagree with the president all you want, what youre not allowed to do is sue him or threaten impeachment because you dont like him.

As for Reagan, Reagan had alzheimer's his second term of president, and ended up forgettign most of the stuff he did. This is a man that TRIPLED the national debt, doubled the size of the government, all while claiming to be conservative. allowed tens of thousands of gay american men to die because he refused to acknowledge the AIDS epidemic, supported terrorism, deregulated banks, and shifted the tax burden to the middle class. But his proclaimed biggest mistake was IRCA?