Thứ Bảy, 16 tháng 6, 2012

Obama’s Decision on Immigration Is Met With Joy, Anger and Skepticism

Updated, 6:10 p.m. As my colleagues Julia Preston and John H. Cushman Jr. report, an Obama administration policy announced Friday morning will halt the deportation of illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children and allow them to obtain work permits.
In remarks about the new policy, President Obama said it would help hundreds of thousands of young people, but he acknowledged that it was not “a permanent fix.”
The policy is similar to the so-called Dream Act, an immigration measure that was designed to offer a path toward citizenship for certain young illegal immigrants but was blocked by Congress in 2010.
The reaction to the announcement was mixed, with young immigrants hailing the decision, Democratic political leaders heaping praise on the president, and opponents and some Republicans harshly criticizing him for bypassing Congress.
Then, of course, many people on both sides of the debate noted the timing of the announcement, coming just months before the November election as both Mr. Obama and Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, are vying for the Latino vote.
Speaking after a campaign event in Milford, N.H., Mr. Romney criticized the policy change, saying it would make it more difficult “to reach a long-term solution” for dealing with the fate of young people who are in the United States “through no fault of their own.”
He said that he would like to see legislation that deals with this issue. As president, Mr. Romney said he would provide a “long-term solution that provides certainty and clarity.”
Shortly after The Associated Press broke the news this morning, lawmakers, advocates and ordinary people turned to Twitter to voice their reaction.

In a statement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg praised the move.
With its action today, the Obama administration is making a significant portion of the Dream Act a reality. Ending deportations of innocent young people who have the potential to drive tomorrow’s economy is long overdue, as are many common-sense reforms needed to center our immigration policy around our economic needs. We have a system that is choking our economic growth by chasing away the entrepreneurs who can create jobs and the talented people businesses need to succeed and grow. Smart immigration policy protects our borders while ensuring America remains the destination for all those willing to work hard and dream big.
Moving major issues requires action, not rhetoric, and today, the administration took a step toward breaking the Washington logjam on immigration that has hamstrung our economy and made America less competitive in the global marketplace.
Jose Antonio Vargas, the award-winning reporter who revealed in The New York Times last year that he had hidden his status as an illegal immigrant and who wrote the cover story this week in Time magazine, titled “Not Legal, Not Leaving,” praised the policy change. Since he left The Washington Post last year, Mr. Vargas created an advocacy organization called Define American.
He also noted that he would not be covered under the policy.
The policy, which is effective immediately, will apply to people who are under 30 years old, arrived in the country before turning 16 and have lived in the United States for five years. They must also have no criminal record, have earned a high school diploma and remained in school or served in the military.
In Congress, the measure received mixed reaction, with Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and the former House speaker, using the announcement to remind voters that the Democrat-led House approved the Dream Act in 2010 before it failed in the Senate.
Particular attention was being paid to the response from Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, who has spoken out on immigration issues and is close to the Romney campaign.
He said in a statement that he was concerned Mr. Obama’s approach was a short-term answer to a “long-term problem” that might make it difficult to find a permanent solution. His response was echoed by Mr. Romney later in the day.
There is broad support for the idea that we should figure out a way to help kids who are undocumented through no fault of their own, but there is also broad consensus that it should be done in a way that does not encourage illegal immigration in the future. This is a difficult balance to strike, one that this new policy, imposed by executive order, will make harder to achieve in the long run.
Today’s announcement will be welcome news for many of these kids desperate for an answer, but it is a short-term answer to a long-term problem. And by once again ignoring the Constitution and going around Congress, this short-term policy will make it harder to find a balanced and responsible long-term one.
On his Facebook page, Representative Allen West, Republican of Florida, harshly criticized the decision, saying the president had overreached.
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. I find it ironic that Secretary Napolitano would not assist our State of Florida with ensuring the integrity of the voting process but she can make a unilateral decision about who can reside in America.
Furthermore, where are the details about how the American economy is going to handle this influx of people, who will without a doubt now be guaranteed services and be competing with Americans for jobs? These are the kind of details that are to be hammered out during the legislative process, and appear to be completely overlooked by this Administration as usual.
Mr. West’s remarks prompted a flurry of comments, in agreement with his statement. Some expressed concern that allowing work permits for young people who arrived in this country illegally would take away jobs from veterans and returning members of the Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Tell me they’re not taking work away from our returning troops?” one commenter posted. “What is he thinking…..votes? 800,000 work permits and our unemployment will increase.”
Across the country, the decision was met with rallies by supporters and skepticism by others, including elected officials.
In Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer, who was criticized for her support of a law allowing police officers to detain people they suspect of being in the country illegally, characterized Mr. Obama’s announcement as “blatant political pandering by a president desperate to shore up his political base.”
Ms. Brewer went on, “It’s no coincidence that this sweeping policy change was announced less than five months before a presidential election.” She also described the announcement as a “pre-emptive strike against the U.S. Supreme Court and its decision on S.B.1070,” the immigration law whose constitutionality the Obama administration challenged all the way to the nation’s highest court.
“He says it’s temporary, but we all know better,” Ms. Brewer said, then added moments later, “We need to keep our focus upon securing the border.”
In Washington, a crowd gathered outside the White House as Mr. Obama made his remarks.
In Los Angeles, a group of young people had organized a rally Friday morning calling for changes to the immigration law. The rally soon became a celebration when word spread about the news, announced Friday by Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security secretary.
By afternoon, some of Mr. Obama’s supporters in Chicago and across the country were suggesting that people affected by the ruling should volunteer for his re-election effort.
And advocates for changes in immigration law reminded supporters that the job is not over.
Your thoughts on the policy change? Links to reaction we should include? Please leave your comment here.
Ian Lovett, Fernanda Santos and Kirk Semple contributed reporting.
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