Obama announces immigration reform
President Barack Obama announced a series of measures he would take to help shape immigration law after years in which the U.S. Congress failed to pass any sort of reform.
The New York Times reports that Obama's policies will protect around 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation, but it will not enable them to become citizens.
In justifying his decision to Republicans, who are apoplectic over his decision to take unilateral action, Obama cited actions taken by previous presidents, both Democratic and Republican, according to the Times. Obama also urged Congress to pass some sort of long term immigration reform. He directly addressed his most vociferous opponents on the issue of immigration and told them to, "Pass a bill." Those most affected by the new policies will be illegal immigrants with children who were born in the United States and are US citizens. Those individuals will be able to work legally and no longer have to worry about the threat of deportation, according to the Times. That policy will affect around four million people. An additional one million will benefit from the president ordering a readjustment of the priorities for federal agencies responsible for enforcing immigration law. For example, a program called Secure Communities will come to an end, according to the Times. That program allowed cities to check the immigration status of people arrested for misdemeanors like parking tickets. If a person was determined to be illegal, the city could alert the federal government, which would begin deportation proceedings. Obama will follow up his announcement with a national tour where he will explain his policies and try to build support for them.
Obama's announcement puts Republicans in a tough political position. Republicans oppose any type of immigration reform, but Latinos, who are the largest single group of immigrants in the US, are also a major voting bloc. By opposing reform, Republicans risk losing their votes at a time they make up an increasing part of the electorate.
