Posted on 06/15/2012 10:35:05 AM PDT by Kaslin
So, the “framing” economic speech yesterday was a bust — yeah, they’re going to need us to move away from that ol’ chestnut pretty quickly — so here comes the next big talking point in the Obama-campaign wheelhouse.
President Obama has decided that the Homeland Security Department will no longer deport younger illegal immigrants who haven’t broken the law, and will instead issue them work permits.
The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies.
The policy change, described to The Associated Press by two senior administration officials, will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It also bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the so-called DREAM Act, a long-sought but never enacted plan to establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who have attended college or served in the military.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was to announce the new policy Friday, one week before President Barack Obama plans to address the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials’ annual conference in Orlando, Fla. Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak to the group on Thursday.
Updates to follow…
Update: At least as far as the Latino community is concerned (and opinion abounds on the electoral significance of Latinos as a voting group, and whether they really vote so monolithically), this is going to present a stiff challenge for Romney’s campaign. As ABC points out:
The Obama administration is likely to deny that politics played a role in the announcement, but the timing is ideal for the president’s reelection campaign. In the GOP primary, Mitt Romney adopted strictly conservative positions against illegal immigration in his effort to woo right-wing voters. He backs a strong fence along the border with Mexico, opposes most amnesty and boasts of his move as Massachusetts governor to deny in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. …
Obama’s announcement today is likely to curry favor with Hispanics, a key growing voting bloc who could determine the winner in November in important states like Florida, Colorado and Nevada. The president currently beats Romney among Hispanics in polls, but most Latinos say they disapprove of his deportation policy.
Deportation rates under President Obama have actually been relatively high — a point about which many Latino voters and immigration advocates have been displeased. This could be a crucial appeasement-move that will inspire Latinos to get to polls in November.
Can President Obama even do this without Congressional approval? I’m not sure, but then again, it hardly matters. If he can, great; if he can’t, great: It’s just another jab he can aim at an “obstructionist,” “do-nothing” Congress.
Update (Ed): So …. he’s going to hand out hundreds of thousands of work permits when unemployment is at 8.2% nominal, 14.8% U-6, and the civilian participation rate is near the 30-year low Obama set last month (now 63.8%)? The only thing this accomplishes is driving the labor rate further downward and the unemployment rate further upward. Work permits make sense when you’re creating jobs, but not when jobs are scarce. I’m not sure that’s going to endear Obama to unions and blue-collar voters struggling to find work already.
Update (back to Erika): A calculated move to steal some of Sen. Marco Rubio’s alternative-DREAM-Act thunder? It’s widely known that Sen. Rubio has been crafting legislation that would give visas to undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children if they attend college or join the military, though it would not provide legal permanent residency — and President Obama’s plan sounds pretty darn similar. Plenty of Republicans aren’t exactly thanking Rubio for his upcoming proposal, but as a tea-party rockstar with Hispanic roots, Rubio is a major threat to Democrats’ claim that they’re the best political party for Latinos’ interests. Team Obama definitely needed to get out in front on this one.
Update: Here are some immediate reactions from our Congresspeople concerning the Obama campaign’s — er, sorry, I mean, the White House’s — newest immigration policy.
Rep. Allen West, R-Florida
“This is yet another example of executive branch overreach. We have a legislative process that ensures representative governance by the consent of the American people. This action should be crafted into legislation, debated in committee and brought before the House and Senate for vote, with accordance of our Constitutional Republic way. Secretary Napolitano is an unelected administrative bureaucrat who does not have the right to make governing decisions for this country. It is apparent that the goal of the Obama administration is not to govern, but rule by edict. This again is a reflection of the desperation of President Obama and his liberal progressive disciples as November draws nearer. …
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey
“For all the young people who call this country their home but have been unable to fulfill their dreams, I am profoundly grateful to the President and the Administration for suspending the deportation of Dreamers. For these young men and women who want to become doctors, teachers, police officers and soldiers, this announcement will change their lives forever.”
” The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. “
Raise your hand if you believe even one of these people will get a DOJ background check.
Impeach!
Impeach!
I’m so glad we have there’s so many unfilled jobs in this country that we have to allow others to live here illegally just to try to keep up with the demand... I so glad that our social services can be provided without ever having to consider the cost.... So glad that groups like La Raza promote assimiliation, of learning our language and embracing our culture... So glad that we don’t have to care about the background of those coming in, because we never have issues with crime...
What a complete disaster Mr. Obama is. Next time, let’s hire an American for President.
unilateral legislation. isn’t that what we call a dictator?
If he’s got the balls, why doesn’t he just CHANGE THE LAW so they’re no longer ILLEGAL ALIENS!?!? Put that up for vote in the congress with his name at the bottom! Why do we just keep the law and just refuse to enforce it?? That’s ridiculous and eventually undermines all laws.
Think it through all you legal American grandparents and parents. This is your legal descendant’s future these people are fooling with.
Assume these children are innocent of all wrongdoing.
Where are their parents? If the children are underage, shouldn’t they and their parents have to leave and come back legally?
If the children are of age, shouldn’t their parents have to leave and come back legally?
If the children are innocent, isn’t it true that your children and grandchildren are just as innocent? Isn’t it true that the illegal children are taking your innocent children’s education, job and social services? Isn’t it true that in most cases the illegal immigrant children are eligible for citizenship in the country of their Parents?
Therefore those illegal immigrant children are eligible for the educations and scholarships given by those countries, which in some cases are substantial.
Between the two innocent groups of children, does it not make sense that the children who have the out of benefits from their illegal parent’s countries of origin should have to take advantage of that out when our legal, innocent children have no out?
I just don’t understand those who would punish our innocent children by giving illegal children benefits their parents have not earned for them.
In a peculiar way, we should thank the Bam for putting the issue of illegal immigration front and center this election cycle. Before, it was always swept under the rug, but remains a hot button with actual US citizens who strongly object to any notion of amnesty, and will end up blowing up in his face.
One thing Romney was very consistent on whether versus McCain or Perry or Newt was his approach to illegals. If Perry didn’t have that ‘heartless’ problem with tuition breaks, he’d be our nominee.
Only in a liberal mind could such a thing exist.
It may create a BIG market for counterfeit documents.
Here's a clue. "Demetrios G. Papademetriou, who studied the 1986 amnesty at the Labor Department in the first Bush administration, said he was encouraged when he heard that the Senate was close to granting legal status to illegal workers. But Dr. Papademetriou, who is now president of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, said his heart sank when he learned about the legalization process, which he believes will create a market for counterfeit documents.
"In the late 1980's, immigration officials approved more than 90 percent of the 1.3 million amnesty applications for a specialized program for agricultural workers, even though they had identified possible fraud in nearly a third of those applications. The general amnesty, which legalized 1.7 million people, worked much more efficiently, though some of its applications raised similar concerns.
"Dr. Papademetriou, recalling the difficulties 20 years ago, said: 'We're going back to 1986. Do we ever learn anything?'"
Yeah right /s>
Last acts of a desperate socialist...
November 6 can not come soon enough
Could it be that even he is concerned that he might eventually be deported for being an “illegal”?
“no longer deport younger illegal immigrants “
Until a law is passed by congress allowing people younger then 16 to illegally enter America. Leftist aka progressive prez bo cannot order law enforcement officers. To do not do their job.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-19-tancredo_N.htm
DES MOINES — Rep. Tom Tancredo dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday and endorsed rival Mitt Romney.
The Colorado Republican made his exit from the race official on his 62nd birthday at a press conference here. He'll throw his support behind GOP candidate Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, he said.
POLITICS BLOG: Ex-candidate endorses Romney
Tancredo’s name was most associated with his fight against illegal immigration, one of the presidential election's most controversial issues. But his hard-line approach to curbing the unlawful migration of millions across the United States’ southern border wasn't enough to vault him from the back of the GOP field.
"So …. he’s going to hand out hundreds of thousands of work permits when unemployment is at 8.2% nominal, 14.8%...The only thing this accomplishes is driving the labor rate further downward and the unemployment rate further upward. Work permits make sense when you’re creating jobs, but not when jobs are scarce. I’m not sure that’s going to endear Obama to unions and blue-collar voters struggling to find work already."
Yep. This is a disaster for private-sector union workers.
But many here will tell us that there is no difference between Romney and Obama. Tancredo endorsed Romney. I want to seem then here on this thread now.
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