In an address to the nation on November 20^th, 2014, President Obama announced he would take executive action to allow up to five million undocumented immigrants to remain in the country and work legally without threat of deportation. This comes following months of congressional gridlock where no action was taken in the Republican controlled House of Representatives.

The President’s plan includes the following:      

• Provide border patrol agents with additional resources so that they can stem the flow of illegal crossings, and speed the return of those who do cross over.
• Make it easier and faster for high-skilled immigrants, graduates, and entrepreneurs to stay and contribute to our economy. 
• Take steps to deal responsibly with the millions of undocumented immigrants who already live in the country.

The President’s plan focuses essentially on the third point; seeking to deport violent criminals rather than children or families who merely crossed over illegally.  The President announced that:

“If you’ve been in America for more than five years; if you have children who are American citizens or legal residents; if you register, pass a criminal background check, and you’re willing to pay your fair share of taxes – you’ll be able to apply to stay in this country temporarily, without fear of deportation. You can come out of the shadows and get right with the law.”

Despite the House’s failure to take up the issue itself, Speaker John Boehner called the President’s action “damaging the presidency itself” saying “the president has chosen to deliberately sabotage any chance of enacting bipartisan reforms that he claims to seek.”  Boehner vowed that the House would take action to counter the President’s actions, but declined specifics. 

The President’s plan places republicans in a delicate position.  They feel compelled to condemn the Presidential executive action but must be careful not to damage the party’s standing with Latino voters, who comprise the nation’s fastest growing minority.  Thus, Republicans have focused their anger on the President’s so called “executive amnesty.”  Many in the party are calling this use of executive action unconstitutional, but feel impeachment or a government shutdown over the issue would not be productive.  They seek to find ways to cut off funding for the President’s executive action without shutting down the government. 

Congressional Democrats on the other hand were largely united behind the President.  However, they agree that congress must ultimately take up the issue. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated “President Obama is doing what he can within his well-established constitutional authority, but nothing replaces Congress acting on comprehensive immigration reform”.

In November’s mid-term elections, republicans took control of the Senate, and expanded their majority, but those newly elected members will not take office until January. Will Congress take up the issue in the lame-duck session? Or will they wait till next year? Republicans are angry that the President acted without them, but they failed to act for months when they had the opportunity to do so.

Read the full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/us/republicans-immigration-obama.html

Read the full transcript and watch the speech here: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/11/20/full-transcript-of-president-obamas-immigration-actions-video/