Obama delays immigration action, angering advocates

WASHINGTON DC, USA (UPDATED) – President Barack Obama will wait until after November’s midterm elections to reform the US immigration system by using his executive power, seeking to shield lawmakers crucial to Democratic Party hopes of clinging on to the Senate.

The move, announced by a White House official Saturday, September 6, followed calls by vulnerable Democrats battling for reelection in conservative states to avoid action that could energize Republican voters.

The official said, however, that Obama would wield his presidential power before the end of the year to reform a system that a gridlocked Congress has failed to fix.

That means the issue will explode in the early exchanges of the 2016 presidential race, and could force Republican candidates to take positions harmful to their standing with the crucial block of Hispanic voters that will be key in deciding who succeeds Obama.

But the president will have to win back the support of immigration advocates who were deeply dismayed by Saturday’s announcement, accusing him of a “breathtaking” move that will sacrifice immigrant families for political gain.

Obama’s determination to use executive powers to tackle the issue of illegal immigration – and the fates of some of the 11 million undocumented in the country – has already ignited a firestorm – and Republicans argue that his effort would exceed the authority of his office.

“The reality the president has had to weigh is that we’re in the midst of the political season,” the official said, after Obama considered his decision on a flight back across the Atlantic from a NATO summit on Friday, September 5.

“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,” the official added.

“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.”

Obama’s initiative could involve halting deportation proceedings against some of the illegal immigrants in the United States and changing the system of distributing legal immigration documents to foreigners, known as Green Cards.

He may also chose to expand a program that offers temporary visas to illegal immigrants who entered the country before they were 16 – and possibly include their parents.

A bipartisan immigration reform bill has passed the Senate but it foundered in the Republican-led House of Representatives, where conservative Republicans brand attempts to bring illegal immigrants out of the shadows as amnesty. (READ: Border crisis highlights US immigration reform failure) 

Republicans also accuse the president of failing to enforce border security laws that are already on the books – in a political row that has been exacerbated by the flow of thousands of unaccompanied children across the southern US border in recent months.

Senate Democrats who are fighting for survival in key states including North Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire and Alaska had made public calls for Obama not to use executive powers to reshape immigration laws.

Republicans need only a net gain of 6 seats in the 100-member Senate in the November 4 elections to grab the chamber – a scenario that would condemn Obama to a miserable final two years in office.

They seem assured of picking up 3 seats, and races in the remaining competitive battles remain too close to call.

Advocates furious

Reform advocates are furious because the president had previously said he would act on the issue before the end of the summer.

“We are bitterly disappointed in the president and we are bitterly disappointed in the Senate Democrats,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice.

“We advocates didn’t make the reform promise; we just made the mistake of believing it,” he added.

“The president and Senate Democrats have chosen politics over people; the status quo over solving real problems.”

Deepak Bhargava, of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), accused Obama of a “breathtakingly harsh and short sighted political miscalculation.”

“This delay will have tragic consequences for the fathers, mothers, sons and daughters who will be ripped from one another’s arms in the coming weeks and months,” he said.

Erika Andiola of the DREAM Action coalition charged that Obama had solidified his “Deporter-in-Chief” legacy.

“He will be responsible for ripping families apart from now until he acts.” – Rappler.com