President Obama’s executive decision to stop deporting young undocumented immigrants who have demonstrated the principles of good citizenship is both politically expedient and morally important. The political right has inevitably characterized the President’s actions as simply pandering for votes in an election year. Perhaps they are correct in that the timing of his announcement is a bit suspect.
Still, even though it likely was politically motivated, it recaptures a long time value that as of late has been lost among most Americans. It is a reminder that one’s actions are the best metric for assessing their character.
Many Americans do have the luxury of citizenship being a birthright; among these individuals, some count it as a privilege, while others take it for granted. The beneficiaries of this order have all demonstrated good citizenship through their actions despite not holding the corresponding legal status. Reform of the immigration system in order to treat these individuals with the dignity and respect they deserve was long overdue.
Unfortunately, Obama’s order is hardly a long-term solution: everyone knowledgeable about immigration recognizes the need to comprehensive reform, though they disagree about what form a new system should take. Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney equivocated when asked for a statement on the President’s announcement; he said he supported Sen. Marco Rubio’s plan for legislative reform on immigration, but didn’t articulate his position further.
Indeed, the current plan is only a preliminary step in response to an unresponsive congress that failed to pass the DREAM Act. Mr. Romney is now trying to walk a tightrope on the immigration issue after vowing to veto the DREAM Act if elected President during the primary campaign. Moreover, Marco Rubio’s proposal has not yet been public, which makes this one more issue where the American people are forced to guess where Romney really stands.
The electoral benefit resulting from the announcement may only be minimal, but it is nonetheless refreshing to see an elected official take charge and do right by a group of people deserving of rights and respect. It represents a genuine belief that the spirit of the American dream is still alive, even though one must overcome many challenges in order to attain it.
Does anyone have a problem with the order of a President to ignore enforcement of law? I am not moved by a President running for reelection picking and choosing which laws to ignore in order to pander to a portion of the electorate. I am sympathetic to the plight of children, now grown up, who find themselves in limbo because of their immigration status. However I find the high-minded support of the President’s decision to be offensive in that it ignores the rule of law while supporting executive fiat. I do support a legislative solution to the problem but am put off by the approach of our President. Frankly, if I were Hispanic I would be put off by the sleazy nature of the President’s announcement. Of what could I be certain? How long will this edict stand? It is not the rule of law rather the decision is easily overturned by him or the next president. No victory here.
I think criticism of this order on the grounds that it subverts the legislative process is valid. However, remember two things that help put this into context: 1) executive power has been expanding for decades (good or bad, it’s a fact), and 2) support for congress is significantly lower than support for the president (not that the president is immensely popular) in large part because they aren’t passing any legislative solutions to problems including immigration. Until this week, few people were even talking about immigration reform.
With that said, for me personally it’s rather simple– the ends justify the means. Congress couldn’t pass the DREAM Act and has no type of comprehensive reform initiative in the works.
I don’t mean to nominate the President for a second Nobel peace prize for his actions here; I admit he probably had some ulterior motives. I am pleased though that for the mean time at least, undocumented young people who live responsible lives don’t have to live in fear. I know that this won’t work in the long term, but hopefully, whatever their reasoning, this will be an incentive for congress to get to work on a comprehensive legislative solution, but because it’s an election year, I’m not very optimistic about that.