Resize textAAAInaction on immigration makes supporters angry at allies: Democrats and Obama Posted: 6:21 p.m. Sunday, March 30, 2014 Email 1Facebook 7Twitter 15ShareThis 23EmailFacebookTwitterShareThisBy John Lantigua - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Immigration-reform activists are so frustrated by the refusal in Congress to act on legislation and by the continuing tide of deportations that some are lashing out at supporters of reform in Washington: President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats. That raises the question of if and how administration immigration policy will change leading to the November midterm elections. Hispanics gave Obama 71 percent support in 2012, and Democrats cannot afford erosion in such an important ethnic bloc in November Latest news on the U.S. immigration reform debate “They wouldn’t vote Republican, but they could stay home if they are angry about the deportations,” said Charles Zelden, Nova Southeastern University political scientist. “That would be bad for Democrats. But I don’t think that will happen. I think the president will act before November.” By “act,” Zelden means he believes Obama will use an executive order to grant temporary protection from deportation to more of the 11 million to 12 million undocumented persons in the United States. In 2012, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano granted such temporary protection to “Dreamers,” people between the ages of 16 and 30 who were brought to the U.S. before the age of 16. More than 550,000 have applied. A temporary fix Zelden is not alone in thinking Obama will extend such protection. During his January State of the Union address, the president said he would employ executive action more often this year to get things done in the face of GOP opposition in Congress. Republicans then accused Obama of mounting an “imperial presidency.” But Obama has moved cautiously on immigration, telling advocates that Republicans must be given time to forge their own legislation before he resorts to other tactics. “It makes sense, because if he uses an executive order, the next president can just undo it,” said Zelden.”The only way to get a lasting fix is to do it through Congress.” For that reason, immigration activists in Washington say the president will wait until at least June to act. By then almost all GOP primaries will be over and Republicans who support immigration reform can vote without fear of attracting more conservative challengers for their seats. But some of the angrier activists are convinced Republicans will not address immigration at all this election year, afraid of alienating conservative voters who oppose legalization of the undocumented. They are pressuring the president to act sooner. They say that each week, another 1,000 people are deported. Last week, Cristina Jimenez, of United We Dream, a pro-reform group with many South Florida supporters, went on the attack on The Huffington Post website. “The reckless enforcement machine presided over by President Obama exists not just because of Republican extremism and obstructionism, but also because of Democratic posturing and complicity,” she wrote. Palm Beach County reform activist Aileen Josephs expressed similar feelings. She blames Obama for not pushing reform earlier in his tenure and blames him for the deportation crisis. “The Republicans didn’t promise us immigration reform. Obama did,” she said. “He says he doesn’t have the power to stop the deportations, but he does. “He has to stop the bleeding. We expect him to use his powers and use them broadly” In June, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan bill that creates a path to citizenship for most the undocumented persons in the U.S. Some activists, such as Josephs, are demanding that Obama extend protection from deportation to all those covered by the Senate bill. But the president’s legal powers to defer deportations is debatable, not to mention the political realities he would face in trying to do so. In granting protection to Dreamers, he took one group and put them last in the deportation line. Trying to protect the majority of the undocumented would lead to wholesale GOP opposition and, almost certainly, court challenges, all to accomplish a temporary fix. Obama could choose to suspend deportation for smaller segments of the undocumented: parents of Dreamers, parents of U.S.-born children and those with only immigration violations on their records. Such choices could protect millions more of the undocumented. He recently asked Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to make deportation policy “more humane.” Any executive action Obama takes would demonstrate what he means by that. Some shift blame Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to shift blame for the stalled reform back onto Republicans. Last week, House Democrats authored a “discharge petition” – a legislative maneuver that allows a bill to go right to the floor of the House for a vote, without approval by a House committee. They wanted a vote on HR 15, the House version of the approved Senate bill. As anticipated, none of the 233 Republicans in the majority signed the petition and it died. But that gave Democrats a chance to attack. “House Republicans continue to block a vote on comprehensive immigration reform,” said U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic minority leader. “Enough is enough, and Democrats are demanding a vote. “It is time for Republicans to stop catering to the most extreme, anti-immigrant wing of their caucus, and allow a vote on the bipartisan immigration reform our nation so urgently needs.” Kevin Wagner a Florida Atlantic University political scientist, thinks Republicans will not touch immigration before the November elections because they want public attention focused on the Affordable Care Act, which they hope will drive many unhappy Republicans and conservative-leaning independents to the polls. As for the possibility that Obama will use an executive order to reduce deportations, Wagner thinks that may be the only way the issue will help the Democrats in November. Not only Hispanics but many non-Hispanic young voters support immigration reform and some could be prodded to vote rather than stay home, as they often do for midterm elections, he said. “That would be one way for Democrats to make some headway with voters in November,” Wagner said. For whatever reason Obama does it, “it could be a good political tactic,” Wagner said. Frank Sharry, executive director of the pro-reform organization America’s Voice, still hopes Republicans will act by June. If they don’t, his group will also pressure Obama to act. Sharry says after their 2012 loss, Republican Party leaders set out to curry favor with Hispanics. Now they would find themselves having to oppose the curtailing of deportations. The GOP would still have a chance to act on immigration reform next year, but Sharry says for those Republicans who support reform and want their party to have a chance of winning the White House in 2016, taking a stand on the emotional issue of deportations that will anger Hispanics would be painful. “Attacking the president because he’s trying to protect Hispanic families from deportations?” said Sharry. “Ouch!”
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 16:20:21 +0000
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