カテゴリーアーカイブ: Immigration

GOP debates its immigration strategy as Obama prepares executive action

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信

Congressional Republicans have split into competing factions over how to respond to President Obama’s expected moves to change the nation’s immigration system, which are likely to include protecting millions from being deported.

The first, favored by the GOP leadership, would have Republicans denounce what House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has called “executive amnesty” and use the party’s new grip on Congress to fight changes to the law incrementally in the months ahead.

The second, which has become the rallying cry for conservatives, would seek to block the president’s decision by shutting down the government for an extended period until he relents.

The brewing internal debate, which started to play out Thursday in meetings on both sides of the Capitol, represents the first significant test for Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) since Republicans won full control of Congress, forcing them to balance their desire to show that GOP can govern and their fears of upsetting the conservatives who lifted them to power.

“It’s a big test for the leadership. We cannot listen to the loudest, shrillest voices in our party,” said Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican who represents the Philadelphia suburbs. “At some point we have to fund the government, and we should not fight to attach some demand. I don’t want to stand by and watch as our party gets driven into a ditch.”

Obama has pledged to use his executive powers to alter the immigration system before the end of the year, though it remains unclear exactly when he will act. He has asked top aides and Cabinet secretaries to present him with options but has not formally huddled with them to make a final decision, according to administration officials.

Among the options under consideration are proposals that could potentially protect as many as 6 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, according to several people familiar with Obama’s plans.

To better clarify his administration’s deportation policy, Obama is said to be considering instructions that would make clear that immigration agencies should focus on deporting criminals and repeat immigration offenders. New steps to stiffen security operations along the U.S.-Mexico border are also expected.

In a concession to the business community that Republicans would be hard-pressed to oppose, Obama is likely to expand visa programs for immigrants working for high-tech firms. Doing so would fulfill the wishes of Silicon Valley executives, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and many GOP lawmakers who have advocated making it easier for high-tech firms to recruit skilled workers from overseas.

Obama’s allies on Capitol Hill have been closing ranks in recent days, preparing to help defend whatever decision the president makes.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) suggested that she and her colleagues would serve as a protective “ring” around the president once he takes action. “We’ll stay on fire, Mr. President,” Lee said, referencing a comment by Boehner that Obama was “playing with fire.”

Other Democrats reminded reporters Thursday that several of Obama’s predecessors have acted without congressional support.

“Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and there was much to be said about it at the time. But he led with executive action,” said Rep. Al Green (D-Tex.), adding later: “When Truman signed the order desegregating the military, there was much being said. But it desegregated the military.”

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), an advocate for an overhaul of immigration law, has been counseling House Republicans this week about the need to show empathy for undocumented workers as the party rails against the Obama administration, according to GOP aides familiar with his deliberations. He is concerned that too much vitriol could send the wrong message to Hispanic voters.

Still, Diaz-Balart said in a recent interview that Obama lacks the legal authority to act on his own and if he does so will upend any hope of bipartisan accord on a host of unrelated issues, including major trade agreements and tax reform.

“If the president ignores the fact that there’s going to be a new Congress in January, that makes it frankly almost impossible to get anything done,” he said.

Added Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), “This whole threat of an executive order has a chilling effect on everything.”

House and Senate negotiators have been working for weeks on legislation to fund the government past Dec. 11, when the current short-term spending deal expires.

The comprehensive agreement is expected to run through the end of the fiscal year in September. Aides in both chambers hope to bring the measure up for a vote before the Dec. 11 deadline.

A group of influential centrist Republicans told Boehner and his leadership team at a conference meeting Thursday that they must avoid another fiscal impasse and that this is the moment to take on the more extreme elements in their party. They argued that unless Boehner takes on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and other conservatives pushing for a hard-line response, he risks seeing his conference unravel into factions, much as it did last year during the 16-day shutdown that was cheered by the tea party.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a top Boehner ally, signaled Thursday that House leaders are working to avoid a shutdown and telling colleagues that opposing the president’s policy does not necessitate a standoff over government funding.

“Government shutdowns aren’t a way to solve problems,” Cole said in an interview. “It would only inflame the situation. What I say is: ‘Did it stop Obamacare? No, it did not.’ That’s unfortunate, but it’s not the weapon we should use.”

But Boehner, wary of upsetting his right-leaning conference, is taking care to criticize the president and show his members that even if he ends up departing from some of them on tactics, he shares their outrage about the president’s move. He also warned Thursday morning at the closed-door GOP meeting that Obama could cripple his ability to work with Congress for the remainder of his time in office.

“We’re going to fight the president tooth and nail if he continues down this path,” Boehner told reporters Thursday. “This is the wrong way to govern. This is exactly what the American people said on Election Day they didn’t want.”

While conservatives would like to use the budget debate as the battleground to fight Obama, Boehner said privately Thursday that he was also looking at judicial options, including expanding a proposed lawsuit over the president’s executive orders, which was introduced in the summer, to include immigration. A separate lawsuit on immigration and executive authority is another option.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit outfit that has opposed a comprehensive immigration overhaul, said he has been meeting with other influential “anti-amnesty” groups such as NumbersUSA and Eagle Forum. All are “gearing up” to persuade conservatives to use short-term spending bills as a means of dissent, he said.

“This is a race against time,” Krikorian said. “A long-term [continuing resolution] until the end of the fiscal year gives him the time he needs to implement the policy. If you pass a long-term bill, you’re giving up your best shot of winning concessions.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the soon-to-be chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, is the leading voice in the chamber in favor of turning the budget negotiations into a clash over immigration. He said late Thursday that his way is the lone approach that could yield anything for the GOP, shrugging aside other ideas as mostly pointless potshots.

In an e-mail exchange, Sessions said passing a bill to fund the government beyond a few days, should a new immigration policy be implemented, “would be to acquiesce to the president’s unlawful action.”

McConnell, who will lead the upper chamber starting next year, has made clear that he is not willing to hold up government funding to settle scores with the president on immigration. “We’ll not be shutting the government down or threatening to default on the national debt,” McConnell twice told reporters Thursday.

Asked later what Senate Republicans might do to respond to Obama’s actions, McConnell demurred: “We’ll let you know.”

David Nakamura in Naypyidaw, Burma, and Sean Sullivan and Katie Zezima in Washington contributed to this report

Source Article from http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/c/34656/f/636635/s/4075b3c7/sc/7/l/0L0Swashingtonpost0N0Cpolitics0Cgop0Edebates0Eits0Eimmigration0Estrategy0Eas0Eobama0Eprepares0Eexecutive0Eaction0C20A140C110C130C88c0A2c980E6b7d0E11e40Ea31c0E77759fc1eacc0Istory0Bhtml0Dwprss0Frss0Inational/story01.htm
GOP debates its immigration strategy as Obama prepares executive action
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/c/34656/f/636635/s/4075b3c7/sc/7/l/0L0Swashingtonpost0N0Cpolitics0Cgop0Edebates0Eits0Eimmigration0Estrategy0Eas0Eobama0Eprepares0Eexecutive0Eaction0C20A140C110C130C88c0A2c980E6b7d0E11e40Ea31c0E77759fc1eacc0Istory0Bhtml0Dwprss0Frss0Inational/story01.htm
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results

Immigration: Against GOP warnings, Obama appears set to go big

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信


Washington — President Obama appears set to go big on immigration policy, even though a unilateral move is sure to stir up furious opposition from Republicans, who will soon have full control of Congress.

That picture became clearer Thursday as news reports cited Obama administration sources saying the president’s promised executive action could provide legal status for as many as 5 million immigrants who currently lack it.

The move could win Mr. Obama resounding praise from pro-immigrant groups, but would draw intense opposition from Republicans – and further sour relations between the president and lawmakers on issues that go well beyond immigration.

Both sides agree on the need for immigration reform, which could pair new border-security efforts with an acknowledgement that many immigrants now in the United States illegally should be granted legal residency and potential paths toward citizenship.

But with legislative efforts currently stalled, Obama pledged to take actions on his own after last week’s election. His announcement could come next week.

According to reports from The New York Times and Fox News, a centerpiece of Obama’s expected announcement will be to grant a reprieve to the parents of children who are US citizens or legal residents. They would no longer need to fear deportation when they seek jobs.

Republican critics call Obama’s anticipated move a “nuclear option” on a sensitive issue that deserves to be settled through traditional legislation.

A new Christian Science Monitor/TIPP poll finds that most Americans agree with that view.

The Obama administration has said any executive action can be superseded by legislation that is signed into law, and it has encouraged the Republican-led House to act on comprehensive reforms that have passed the Senate.

House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio warned last week that an executive action would “poison the well,” reducing rather than enhancing the chances for legislation to pass. Still, he acknowledged an urgent need for the nation to have immigration reform.

If critics call the move reckless politically, some also warn of a practical risk – that perceptions of a broad shift toward “amnesty” could result in a new rush of immigrants over the border at a time when officials already have their hands full.

According to Fox News, Obama will roll out a 10-part program of actions. The president has already granted to many immigrant children “deferred action” reprieves from deportation. The new actions ​would extend the policy to many parents and more young people. Other steps include measures to boost border security and to enhance pay for immigration officers in a morale-boosting effort, Fox reported.

Still unclear is how many of 11 million or more illegal immigrants in the US will be affected. The New York Times report said the administration is still weighing how many years people must have lived in the US to qualify for a reprieve.

By going big, Obama may help solidify support for the Democratic Party among the Hispanic Americans who represent a sizable and fast-growing share of the electorate.

In that light, Obama can be seen as taking a preemptive political strike against a Republican Party that very much needs to make inroads with Latino voters. Republicans showed some gains in Latino support last week in the elections, but political strategists caution that the voters who turn out for midterm elections tend to be more conservative than in presidential elections. Thus the GOP still has a big gap to close.

Obama faces his own political risk, though.

Many voters are concerned about what they view as lax federal policies on immigration and border security. And now Americans may view him as taking a partisan and unnecessary end run around Congress.

In the Christian Science Monitor/TIPP poll, taken in the week prior to the Nov. 4 elections, nearly 3 in 4 US adults said they think the executive action would “give the Democratic Party a significant advantage with the Latino community in future elections.”

But an even higher share (76 percent) said they favor Obama working “with Congress on immigration reform” rather than acting on his own. A majority of Democrats, independents, and Hispanics felt that way in the poll of 910 Americans, which was conducted by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence.

Some members of Congress are considering responses such as trying to withdraw funding for Obama’s immigration efforts or even holding up a must-pass spending bill. Congress needs to pass a new funding bill by Dec. 11 to keep federal programs running for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2015.

Source Article from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2014/1113/Immigration-Against-GOP-warnings-Obama-appears-set-to-go-big
Immigration: Against GOP warnings, Obama appears set to go big
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2014/1113/Immigration-Against-GOP-warnings-Obama-appears-set-to-go-big
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results

Dr. Manny: Latinos, we need Congress to fix immigration – not the president

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信

A quick-fix by President Obama on immigration may not be a good solution for undocumented Latinos in this country— and this is coming from a Latino, so I’m speaking primarily to my brothers and sisters.

I know perfectly well that a fix to our immigration system is a must. This can cannot be kicked down the road anymore. However, to do things that fast now by an executive action would only delay an adequate response to this problem. And ultimately, it would hurt the long-term benefit that any immigrant in this country might see in the future.

If President Obama legitimizes the stay of illegal immigrants overnight, many communities where Latinos live in America may face more challenges than they bargained for.

In many cities where you have large populations of undocumented Latinos— such as Chicago, Miami, New York, California, and border towns in Texas— we will see that of their vital social infrastructures are not ready to handle added people. Particularly, health care systems in many of those cities are already at full capacity. They just don’t have the resources or medical dollars to handle an influx of undocumented residents, especially if those residents are allowed to stay.

The foreign-born population— which includes legal and illegal immigrants— in California is 10.3 million, or 27 percent of the population, 2012 data from the Pew Research Center shows. About 23 percent of New York’s population, or 4.4 million, are immigrants, while about 16 percent, or 4.2 million people, of Texas’s population were foreign-born.  

In many communities, Latinos know all too well that school systems are not well prepared to handle the massive influx of children from illegal families. These children may not get adequate education, again, in the future because we simply don’t have the resources in those school systems to provide it to them.

In many Latino communities around this country, safety is an issue. We have had the proliferation of gangs, which in many cases are being fermented by illegal immigrants. We see over and over again that many undocumented or illegal Latino criminals work the system in such a way that they beat deportation and are free to go about hurting our communities.

Just look at the case of suspected cop killer, Luis Enrique Monroy-Bracamonte, an illegal immigrant who was arrested in October for the shooting deaths of two Northern California sheriff’s deputies during a carjacking, leaving another deputy and an innocent bystander wounded. This, after being deported in 1997 and again in 2001 because of drug and weapons-related arrests.    

In many cases, these immigrants who are committing crimes— like Monroy-Bracamonte— are hurting daily, the Latino communities that are trying to start a new life in America. In other words, our own illegal criminals are hurting the very fabric of legal immigration.

Now, I don’t want to see families broken up, especially when a small child is brought into this country by an undocumented parent, and has now been in this country for many, many years. I understand that these young people now only know America, love America and appreciate America.

So a genuine fix has to be made. But we cannot stop this problem ourselves.

Proper immigration reform must be created by our elected Congress— that represents all the people, and so they work for the people and only the people. So, as a Latino, I am saddened to hear that the president may execute an order to mandate and bypass the potential for a genuine immigration bill and not wait for the new Congress to participate in that action.

Any Latino that comes to this country should know that he or she is an American first. If you have come to this country— like many other people from other cultures have come to build a life in America, which is based on constitutional values— every Latino has to agree with me. I know that for many families who are undocumented, they see the immigration problem as their own. In other words, they think, “Immigration is only important if it affects me.”

But we cannot think like that because what has made America great is that we consider all of the people – we consider their safety, their education, and, more important, how to provide safe medical care.

We cannot continue to run this country without transparency. We cannot continue to run this country by acting first, and not considering what the consequences of our actions will be.

By taking this quick action— rather than setting up a permanent strategy for immigration— again, who’s going to get hurt, but the legitimate people trying to come to this country legally? Latinos have to be aware that a quick solution may only dampen the adequate implementation of legal immigration, and more important, border control.

A proper immigration bill will give Americans— including those of Latin decent— a strong border, which will prevent criminals and terrorists from coming into our country.

It will also send a message, loud and clear, to the countries in South America that they need to get their acts together and improve the lives of their own citizens— whether it be Mexico, El Salvador or Guatemala— because a lot of the people coming to our country are doing so in search of a better life. Many of these people have no hope in their current situations. And I understand that plight. Isn’t that how we all got here? But that message will not be received unless we have plan for the long term.

The bottom line is: We need a long-term strategy to help the Latinos who are trying to do the right thing by becoming American citizens. I hope that the president reconsiders his position, and that the process of a good, democratic debate ensues.

Dr. Manny Alvarez serves as Fox News Channel’s Senior Managing Editor for Health News. Prior to this position, Alvarez was a FNC medical contributor.
Follow Dr. Manny on Facebook.

Source Article from http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/11/13/dr-manny-latinos-we-need-congress-to-fix-immigration/
Dr. Manny: Latinos, we need Congress to fix immigration – not the president
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/11/13/dr-manny-latinos-we-need-congress-to-fix-immigration/
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results

The immigration waiting game will end soon

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama could take action as early as next week to protect undocumented immigrants with American-born children and those who entered the United States as children themselves from deportation, an administration official familiar with the plan told CNN.

The official said Obama could sign an executive order bypassing lawmakers and implementing those changes on his own by next week — though the White House says it hasn’t nailed down the timing or content and that final decisions won’t come until Obama returns from his Asia trip.

The move has been the subject of months of anticipation. But with lame duck legislative wrangling underway on Capitol Hill, the president’s advisers could also wait until next month.

While not specifying when Obama might make his move, the White House said Thursday he’s nearing a final decision on how to repair a system both Republicans and Democrats admit needs fixing.

Sen. Cruz targets immigration, internet

Hoyer: Obama should act on immigration

Boehner’s tough words for Obama on immigration

And while officials say the specifics of what he will announce haven’t been finalized, the broad contours of a potential plan that eases deportations for millions of undocumented immigrants have been floated by immigration groups for months.

For the multitude of groups who are watching the process unfold, the moment is charged.

“Without hesitation I can say the level of anticipation is intense. We were hoping this would happen in September,” said Clarissa Martinez, deputy vice president of the National Council of La Raza. “It’s long overdue. The sooner the better.”

Millions affected

An expansion of Obama’s “deferred action” program (DACA) that went into place in the summer of 2012 is considered by immigration activists a likely component of Obama’s immigration action. DACA delayed deportation proceedings for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States by their parents as children.

READ: Could immigration reform cause another government shutdown?

There were caveats on who was eligible: in order to apply, immigrants needed to be younger than 31 at the time the rule was enacted, and younger than 16 when they were brought to the U.S. And applicants are required to either be in school, have earned a high school degree, or be honorably discharged veterans.

The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, says 1.2 million people were eligible under those rules and nearly 700,000 applied for deferred deportation, with hundreds of thousands more aging into the requirements over the next decade.

But many more would become eligible if Obama expands, or eliminates altogether, those requirements, which were meant to encompass the same sector that would have qualified for permanent resident status under the DREAM Act, which has languished in Congress.

That could mean extending deportation relief to the parents of U.S. citizens, a move that would bring another 3.4 million people into the eligibility ranks, according to a Migration Policy Institute analysis. If the parents of children who are eligible under the current DACA rules are also included, the number rises to 3.7 million.

Changing those rules could also expand the eligible population: eliminating the education requirement, for example, would allow 430,000 more undocumented immigrants to be eligible for deferred deportation, the Migration Policy Institute estimates.

READ: Reid to Obama: Wait on immigration orders

And allowing people over 30 who were brought to the U.S. by undocumented parents would allow another 200,000 immigrants to apply, the think-tank’s report says.

Immigration activists, frustrated with the rate of deportations under Obama and further exasperated with the delay in Obama’s immigration action, have been urging the White House to go big and expand the deferred deportation order in a way that allow the maximum number of people to stay.

But many who have been watching the process closely believe the eventual announcement will fall short of those appeals.

“We have been making the case all along with activists and scholars that the president could provide relief to millions of people. I don’t think they will,” said Lorella Praeli, the advocacy director at immigrants’ rights group United We Dream. “I think they will try to couch that as ‘these are our political constraints.’”

Political football

Whatever Obama finally decides — and at this point, the options seem clear — he’ll be met with fierce blowback from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who have spent months preparing for the announcement by warning of executive overreach and political well-poisoning.

The White House yielded to politics once already, delaying the immigration announcement from its promised debut this summer to a new date before the end of this year. The move was meant to shield vulnerable Democrats from political attacks on the topic; many of them lost their races anyway.

The postponement wasn’t met kindly from immigration groups, who said there wasn’t time to spare on providing deportation relief for the millions of people who could be affected by new rules.

This time the White House seems intent to get the announcement done before the New Year. Obama vowed action during a post-election press conference last week and Josh Earnest, his press secretary, reiterated the end-of-year goal during a press conference in Burma Thursday.

There could still be election year ramifications, since Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu remains locked in a runoff contest with a Republican rival. But with the Senate firmly in Republican hands, any further delay would seem to offer little political advantage while only eroding support further among immigration reform activists.

READ: Obama determined to bypass Congress

“For us, every day that there’s a delay, and every day that people have to wait, means more people unjustly deported,” said Praeli.

Some Democrats want Obama to wait to announce the executive action after essential business clears the House and Senate. Sen. Harry Reid, the outgoing Senate Majority Leader, told CNN the president should hold off any immigration action until a new bill funding the federal government is approved. He said enacting the immigration plan ahead of the spending measure could anger Republicans and risk a government shutdown.

“I’d like to get the finances of this country out of the way before he does it. But it’s up to him,” Reid said.

But no matter when the action comes, it seems destined to ignite GOP furor. The near certainty of an executive action by year’s end hasn’t slowed Republican efforts to stop it: this week a Republican congressman from Texas, Rep. Joe Barton, said if Obama goes forward with the plan, impeachment proceedings could be a possibility.

Those threats aren’t exactly a new thing. Democrats have raised millions of dollars by warning their party’s base about impeachment threats from conservative House members.

More real is the threat that taking executive action on immigration forestalls any legislative effort on the matter. GOP leaders on Capitol Hill say a new plan delaying deportations would enrage Republicans, leaving little political will to push through a comprehensive overhaul of the immigration system.

Obama seems little concerned by Republican threats against making the immigration move, however, pointing out they had an opportunity to pass a bipartisan reform measure in the House but balked.

“I feel obliged to do everything I can lawfully with my executive authority to make sure that we don’t keep on making the system worse,” he said during last week’s news conference.


Source Article from http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/13/politics/obama-immigration/index.html
The immigration waiting game will end soon
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/13/politics/obama-immigration/index.html
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results

Report: Obama Set to Go It Alone on Immigration

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信
Sara Ramirez, of Gaithersberg, Md. rallies for comprehensive immigration reform outside the White House in Washington D.C. on Nov. 7, 2014.
Sara Ramirez, of Gaithersberg, Md., rallies for comprehensive immigration reform outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 7, 2014
Jacquelyn Martin—AP

The White House could make the move as early as next week

President Barack Obama is poised to unilaterally overhaul American immigration policy, according to several reports Thursday, in a long-anticipated move that would ignore his Republican critics and could allow up to 5 million undocumented immigrants to stay in the country.

Source Article from http://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/
Report: Obama Set to Go It Alone on Immigration
http://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results

Obama to Move Ahead with Immigration Action Despite GOP Threats

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信

President Obama has decided to wave off Republican warnings of retribution and move ahead with his plan for executive action to overhaul the immigration system and grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants in the country who are threatened by deportation.

Various news sources reported Thursday that the president will announce as soon as next week an executive order to suspend deportations for up to five million undocumented immigrants from and provide many with work permits.

Related: GOP Could Cut Funds to Scuttle Obama’s Immigration Order   

Quoting unnamed administration officials, The New York Times said the president would order changes that would “significantly refocus the activities of the government’s 12,000 immigration agents.”

WHY THIS MATTERS
President Obama’s apparent decision to move ahead with immigration reform by executive order risks a showdown with the newly elected Republican leaders in Congress – which may dash any lingering hopes for bipartisan deals on other issues in the post-election session and in the 114th Congress. But for millions of illegal immigrants and their families, Obama’s action, which could come as early as next week, would lift the threat of deportation and allow them to come out of the shadows.

As part of a 10-part overhaul, the action would permit numerous parents of children “who are American citizens or legal residents to obtain legal work documents” without fear of being discovered. That action alone potentially could impact 3.2 million people or more who have been living in the U.S. for at least five years.

The report came within hours of Senate Republicans unanimously electing Mitch McConnell as Majority Leader in the coming 114th Congress – likely setting the stage for a bruising face-off between the newly elected Republican majority and a president still smarting from the Democrats’ debacle in last week’s midterm elections.

McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) warned Obama at a White House meeting last Friday that issuing the executive order before a new Republican Congress had an opportunity to address the immigration crisis was a nuclear option – one that would destroy any prospects for bipartisanship in the lame-duck session of Congress and beyond. “Moving forward with the unilateral action on immigration he’s planned would be a big mistake,” McConnell said this week.

McConnell Vows a New Senate That Will Get Things Done   

He compared executive action on immigration to “waving a red flag in front of a bull.”  Don Stewart, McConnell’s press secretary, said earlier today that McConnell was serious about an executive order on immigration having grave consequences.

“During the meeting at the White House, they [GOP leaders] told the president this will do serious damage, but he doesn’t care,” Stewart said.

White House officials said details of the executive actions were still being drafted ahead of Obama’s return on Sunday from an eight-day trip to Asia, according to The Times.

The Democratic Senate last year passed a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform package that tightened security along the border, relieved millions of illegal immigrants from the threat of deportation and offered many a long-term path to citizenship. But the Republican controlled House is sorely divided over the issue, and Boehner refused to bring the Senate-passed bill to the floor for a vote.

Related: Obama, McConnell, Boehner: Wise Up for America

Obama threatened last June to move ahead with executive action by the end of the summer, but later put that off until after the election at the behest of many Democratic candidates who feared it would hurt their reelection chances.

An announcement could be pushed off again until next month but will not be delayed into next year, officials told The Times.

“Before the end of the year, we’re going to take whatever lawful actions that I can take that I believe will improve the functioning of our immigration system,” Obama said during a news conference a day after last week’s midterms. “What I’m not going to do is just wait.”

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:

Source Article from http://news.yahoo.com/obama-move-ahead-immigration-action-194400311.html
Obama to Move Ahead with Immigration Action Despite GOP Threats
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-move-ahead-immigration-action-194400311.html
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results

Conservatives threaten immigration showdown

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some conservative Republicans want to drag must-pass spending bills into their fight with President Barack Obama over his planned executive action on immigration, inviting comparisons to last year’s shutdown showdown over the health care law.

In the Senate, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Mike Lee of Utah are among those arguing to use an upcoming must-pass spending bill — either in December or next year — to try to block Obama from taking unilateral action to protect millions of immigrants here illegally from deportation

“Congress appropriates the money,” Sessions told reporters Wednesday. “That’s a clear constitutional power. If Congress disapproves of the president providing ID cards for people who’ve been in the country illegally, then it should not appropriate money to fund it.”

GOP leaders appear cool to the effort since it could lead to a confrontation with Obama that, if taken too far, could spark another government shutdown. They have given the Appropriations Committee the green light to negotiate a catch-all omnibus spending bill for the budget year that began last month. Any deal with Democrats still in control of the Senate would not include language to block Obama on immigration.

A temporary spending measure expires Dec. 11 and a partial government shutdown would occur if Congress doesn’t act by then. Sessions said he’d rather have Congress pass another short-term spending bill so that the new Republican Senate could be in place to tackle the issue.

Rep. Matt Salmon said he had more than 50 GOP lawmakers’ signatures on a letter to Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., urging that any spending bill include language saying nothing in it could be used to implement an executive immigration policy.

FILE - In this June 19, 2014 file photo, Sen. Mike …

“This is an opportunity for everybody to come together and speak clearly and forcefully that doing this unconstitutional act would be a mistake, and if you do it, there won’t be funding for it,” said Salmon, R-Ariz.

But he stopped short of threatening to withhold his vote for any spending bill that omits such language.

“Members are going to decide for themselves whether or not it’s something they want to fall on their sword over,” Salmon said.

“I’ve had several members contact me and say ‘How about if we try to ‘defund’” Obama’s immigration efforts, said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. “And I do sense there is movement to take that action.”

The plans circulated on Capitol Hill as lawmakers returned to Washington a week after midterm elections in which Republicans trounced Democrats and retook the Senate. Obama’s determination to move forward with his promised executive action despite the election results has emerged as a major point of conflict between congressional Republicans and the White House. Obama is under intense pressure from Latino advocates to act.

FILE - In this June 20, 2013 file photo, Sen. Jeff …

Incoming Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said it would be a “big mistake” for Obama to issue an executive order on immigration, but has promised that there will not be a government shutdown.

But any attempt by conservatives to use must-pass spending legislation to block Obama raises the specter of a government shutdown similar to last year when conservatives insisted on trying to use a spending bill to defund the health care law. That was a temporary political blow to the GOP, and Republican leaders have vowed to avoid a repeat, especially when they’re determined to show voters they can deliver on a positive agenda.

It’s unclear how widespread the support is for trying to use spending legislation that must come to a vote during the lame-duck session to stop Obama from acting. At least a few high-ranking Republicans sounded open to the idea. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who will take over in January as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is looking at the idea, according to spokeswoman Beth Levine.

A spokeswoman for House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said he supports “employing every tool afforded to Congress by the Constitution to stop President Obama’s unconstitutional actions.”

The sentiment appears to be growing in the wake of defiant comments by Obama in support of executive action, which he argues is necessary because the GOP-led House never acted on a sweeping, bipartisan immigration bill passed last year by the Senate.

The plans could present problems for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and McConnell as they try to navigate a controversy-free lame duck session in which they complete necessary work on a few items, including legislation to fund the government into the new year.

And it’s a fight that Democrats might welcome as they look to 2016 presidential elections in which the power of Latino voters is expected to be greater than it was in the midterms, and Republicans instead of Democrats will be playing defense with 24 GOP Senate seats at stake to Democrats’ 10.

Obama has not provided details of his plans, but advocates in touch with the White House anticipate he will expand a two-year-old program that temporarily lifted the threat of deportation for more than 500,000 immigrants brought here illegally as kids, while allowing them to get permits to work legally in this country. The program could be extended to potentially millions more people based on criteria including how long people have been in this country and whether they have children or spouses who are U.S. citizens.

Source Article from http://news.yahoo.com/conservatives-want-block-obama-immigration-move-200424580–finance.html
Conservatives threaten immigration showdown
http://news.yahoo.com/conservatives-want-block-obama-immigration-move-200424580–finance.html
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results

Immigration reform confusion

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信


Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.


If there is less gridlock in Washington, that could lead to a significant expansion of industrial America, Invesco’s Ron Sloan said




Source Article from http://www.cnbc.com/id/102169801
Immigration reform confusion
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102169801
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results

Talking Past Each Other on Immigration Reform

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信

Everybody’s talking about immigration reform, but with the Congress about to switch from divided control to two Houses united under Republican leadership, it’s not really clear that anybody even knows what it means anymore.

The point was hammered home on Sunday morning in an exchange between Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) who appeared on a panel during CNN’s State of the Union. 

Related: GOP Will Try to Block Obama’s Immigration Order

Coons complained that after the Senate passed a bipartisan package of comprehensive immigration reforms in 2013, the House of Representatives did nothing.

“They’ve had more than a year almost a year and a half now since the Senate passed a broad bipartisan bill – that was led in part by Republican senators – and have taken no action on it.”

“That’s not true,” interrupted Bachmann. “That is not true. We did pass an immigration bill – and a remarkable bill – where you had the Tea Party and establishment Republicans all agree. We passed an immigration bill and sent it over to Harry Reid in August.”

The contrast between what the two different parties consider an immigration bill could hardly have been more starkly defined. (Bachmann is retiring, but it’s safe to say that she is representative of the far right element that will remain highly influential in the Republican Conference when the 114th Congress convenes in January.) 

Related: The New Senate Power Grid — Here’s Who Has the Juice

The bill Coons was referring to, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, was a substantial piece of legislation. Among other things, it did the following:

  • Added thousands of new border security personnel and increased the funding available for border-related immigration enforcement.
  • Created a “Registered Provisional Immigrant” status that offered qualifying illegal immigrants a path to citizenship after paying various penalties and meeting a number of requirements
  • Created an expedited path for immigrants brought here illegally as children
  • Revamped the various immigrant visa programs
  • Overhauled the immigration enforcement system in general, including funding for understaffed immigration courts
  • Required all employers to use the “E-Verify” system, which allows the electronic verification of a worker’s legal status 

Related: Post-Election, Boehner Strikes a New Tone on Jobs Numbers

The bills Bachmann was referring to were, by contrast, far less comprehensive. A supplemental budgetary measure passed August 1 would have increased funding for border enforcement, and made it easier to deport child migrants from certain Central American countries who, under current law, are required to be given a hearing in federal immigration court to see if they are at risk of violence, sex trafficking, or persecution if they return home. It would also have stripped the President of the authority to exercise discretion in determining who gets deported and who is allowed to remain, even temporarily, in the U.S.

A second bill, passed just hours after the first one, would have eliminated the administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which suspended deportations for some illegal immigrants brought to the country as minor children.

The stark difference between what different factions in Congress consider sufficient treatment of the illegal immigration issue suggests that any resolution of the ongoing debate may be unattainable at the moment or, with the 2016 presidential election looming, any time soon. 

Related: Post Election Bipartisanship Fails First Media Test

Reflecting on his own struggles with immigration reform a decade ago, former Congressman David Dreier last week said, “The issue of immigration has become one of the ugliest out there.”

Dreier, a California Republican who served 32 years in Congress before retiring in 2013, was reflecting on the blowback he faced after speaking out in favor of immigration reform proposed under the George W. Bush administration. Speaking at a roundtable at Claremont McKenna College in California, he recalled being subject to years of withering attacks from anti-immigration groups who viewed him as too soft on illegal immigrants.

Dreier said that he believes there is a broad consensus among Republicans in the Senate and the House to come to an agreement on reform, but he remained concerned that politics would get in the way.

Related: GOP Could Cut Funds to Scuttle Obama’s Immigration Order

The President’s expected executive action to delay deportations of more illegal immigrants is likely to act as a catalyst for those opposed to any compromise with the White House. As Republican strategist Mike Murphy noted on the same panel as Dreier, Democrats have a possible incentive for creating that ill will.

“In the rubble of defeat it is easy to get mean and cynical and political in a partisan situation,” he said. “There are going to be voices in the White house saying. ‘Mr. President, go do the executive order on immigration…Republicans will overreact like crazy and it will do huge damage to the GOP.”

And if it plays out that way, with each party postponing action on reform in the hope that it will do damage to the other party’s hopes for 2016, the only thing we can count on over the next two years is more demagoguery, more deportations, and less certainty about U.S. immigration policy.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times

Source Article from http://news.yahoo.com/talking-past-other-immigration-reform-101500933.html
Talking Past Each Other on Immigration Reform
http://news.yahoo.com/talking-past-other-immigration-reform-101500933.html
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results

What – if anything – should Obama do about immigration?

投稿日時: 投稿者:
返信

President Obama vowed again in an interview that aired Sunday on “Face the Nation” to press ahead with executive actions reforming America’s immigration system, saying House Republicans had over a year to pass the Senate’s bipartisan reform bill, and they failed to act.

He added that Congress still has time to pass a bill, saying it would take time to implement any executive actions, and that legislation would supersede any administrative changes he might make.

But with a triumphal midterm election behind them and control of the Senate ahead, Republicans continued warning the president that acting unilaterally on immigration would be a huge mistake.

“I believe it would hurt cooperation on every issue,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, a member of the Senate Republican leadership, on “Fox News Sunday.” “It would be like the president pulling the pin out of the hand grenade and throwing in as we’re trying to actually work together.”

Barrasso and other top congressional leaders attended a meeting on Thursday at the White House, where Republicans pressed Mr. Obama to give Congress time and space to find a legislative solution on immigration.

“I’m hoping that cooler heads at the White House can prevail upon the president to say, ‘Look, if you want to have a good, constructive final two years of your presidency, don’t do this now, wait until the new Congress is sworn in, let them come together,’” Barrasso said Sunday.

Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, who won his race for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, told “Fox News Sunday” he hopes the president “will change his mind” and allow Congress to work its will on immigration.

“If he does this, then I’m concerned that he won’t be doing the right thing,” Gardner said, “and that would hurt our ability to move forward the next two years.”

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, told ABC News that Mr. Obama risks spoiling his opportunity to sign a bill if he moves on his own.

“I’m hoping the president will delay and have a real comprehensive discussion about what’s possible because a great deal is possible on immigration reform,” Issa said.

And former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, whose loss to a primary challenger this cycle was blamed, in part, on a willingness to entertain immigration reform proposals, said the president would be in for a “very, very difficult” few years if he flouts Congress on the issue.

“If he does that, that’s incendiary,” Cantor told NBC News.

Democrats, though, said Republicans had their opportunity, and they blew it, pointing to the failure of the Republican-controlled House to take up the bipartisan Senate bill or advance a proposal of their own.

“I think the president has been very patient,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-California, who was also at Thursday’s meeting at the White House. “He’s been waiting a year and a half for the House Republicans to act on the bill that the Senate passed on a bipartisan basis.”

“House Republicans continue to insist that the president must wait to help fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system,” he added on “Fox News Sunday. “So, I think the president is right to move forward.”

Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Texas, told CNN that Democrats and immigration reform advocates have been “very frustrated” by Republicans’ inability to act on the issue since the Senate passed its bill last June.

“In the meantime, there’s a lot of our families are getting deported,” he said. “So, as I’ve said even before winning this seat, we do think there should be executive action.”

At least one Democrat, though, seemed willing to entertain the argument that the president should wait and see what the new Congress can produce.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, told CNN the president should delay his action “only if there’s a clear commitment from the Republican leadership to take up debate and adopt an immigration reform bill.”

“They’ve had more than a year almost a year and a half now since the Senate pass a broad bipartisan bill that was led in part by Republican senators and have taken no action on it,” Coons said.

Source Article from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-if-anything-should-obama-do-about-immigration/
What – if anything – should Obama do about immigration?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-if-anything-should-obama-do-about-immigration/
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=immigration
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results
immigration – Yahoo News Search Results