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Former homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano is supporting executive action by President Obama to change immigration policy if Congress fails to pass a broad overhaul, citing what she calls her successful 2012 push to delay deportations of many younger immigrants.

If Congress refuses to act and perform its duties, then I think its appropriate for the executive to step in and use his authorities based on law ... to take action in the immigration arena, Napolitano, a lawyer and former U.S. attorney in Arizona, said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post.

Napolitano spoke ahead of a speech she is scheduled to give Monday in Georgia in which she will publicly detail for the first time the sometimes heated internal administration debate over the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Begun by Obama over fierce objections from some conservatives, it has deferred the deportations of more than 580,000 young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

In the speech, Napolitano describes a complicated and fraught 2012 debate inside the administration in which White House lawyers peppered her with tough questions and some Department of Homeland Security officials questioned whether the program would overwhelm the governments ability to implement it.

There were serious logistical concerns, Napolitano says in her prepared remarks, a copy of which was obtained by The Post. It would run the risk of appearing to make law and usurping Congress. ... Who knew how it all would turn out?

Napolitanos perspective is especially relevant as the administration debates whether to take further executive action on immigration, including a possible major expansion of the 2012 relief program. With a comprehensive immigration-law overhaul dead for now on Capitol Hill, Obama had promised to act on his own by summers end, and the administration had been preparing new measures that would potentially allow millions of illegal immigrants to remain in the United States without fear of deportation.

But last month, the administration bowed to political concerns and informed lawmakers and advocacy groups that Obama had delayed any action until after Novembers midterm elections.

Napolitano, who left the DHS last year and is president of the University of California system, declined to say in the interview what she thought of the presidents decision or to detail what executive decisions she thinks he should make without Congress. But should he choose to act, she said, the DACA program provides a good petri dish on how you set it up, the budget stuff, all of those nuts and bolts.

The 2012 decision was galvanized by Congresss failure two years earlier to pass the Dream Act, which would have given legal status and a path to citizenship to dreamers young immigrants brought to the country as children.

Initially, Napolitano says in her speech, to be delivered at the University of Georgia law school, she was unsure whether DHS a relatively new agency created after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 could handle the mechanics of an executive response by the administration. Meanwhile, she said, dreamers remained in limbo, ensnared within the sputtering debate over immigration reform.

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Napolitano backs executive action on immigration policy

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In the past few weeks, I have read reports bemoaning the decrease in work skills of the American workforce. Some reports state that the millennial generation lacks work ethics and soft skills. Other reports warn that the U.S. needs more young entrepreneurs who will create the technology and industries of the future.

On the heels of these reports comes the news story of Dario Guerrero, a Harvard junior who was brought illegally by his parents to the U.S. from Mexico at age of 2.

Dario was an exceptional student, and by 13 had earned a scholarship to Johns Hopkins University summer school. After finishing high school, he was accepted, as an undocumented person, to Harvard where he currently majors in Visual and Environmental Studies.

Under President Barack Obamas Dream Act, Dario was granted temporary reprieve from being deported. People participating in this program are restricted from leaving the U.S. while their case is being reviewed.

Last year, Darios mother began suffering the severe effects of kidney cancer. When the cancer treatments in the U.S. stopped working, he and his family, desperate for anything that might save his mother, took her to a clinic in Mexico for experimental treatment. Sadly, this did not work and she died last August in Mexico. Dario, who left the country contrary to the rules of the Dream Act, was denied re-entry to the U.S. and was forced to stay with his grandparents in Mexico City. After the press picked up the story of his plight, he was finally granted a visa a couple of weeks ago and allowed to come back to the U.S. He will resume studies at Harvard next semester.

Dario Guerrero stands on the rooftop of his grandparents home in the outskirts of Mexico City. Guerrero, a Harvard University junior, accompanied his dying mother to Mexico without government permission and until recently was unable to return to the United States. (The Associated Press)

I, like many people, am fatigued by the inability of the president and Congress to address immigration reform, and no concrete action or viable plans are being implemented. In reality, complexity is not what is delaying any progress on this issue, but rather politics. Like many other issues, immigration reform has become absorbed in the gridlock of Washington, D.C., politics a political football that can be punted to make the other side look bad. The Dream Act is a temporary patch that can serve to show the inadequacy of how the U.S. is addressing immigration reform, as the Dario case plainly demonstrates.

Isnt a student who is talented enough to be accepted to both Johns Hopkins University and Harvard precisely the type of intelligent and ambitious young person that the U.S. needs to keep our nation productive, successful and able to compete in the global market? We constantly hear employers complaining about the labor issues and economists complaining about the need for new entrepreneurial ventures. So, what is wrong with this picture?

The current law is the law, and it should be obeyed pertaining to illegal entry into the U.S. However, a 2-year-old child has no concept of right or wrong or the existence of a law. What does the U.S. do if kids are brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, and then proceed to be upstanding elements of U.S. society, living in the shadows of the only country they really know?

The rest is here:
Immigration mess nets Harvard student

Obama Immigration Reform to Happen by End of Summer
In a press conference from the Rose Garden on June 30 President Obama said he would act on his own to set a new immigration policy by the end of summer.

By: Yeni Haberler

Continued here:
Obama Immigration Reform to Happen by End of Summer - Video

Latinos account for about 20 percent of Colorados population and about 14 percent of its voters. The group presents a major player in the states most contentious elections.

But while Republicans and Democrats alike are working hard to attract these voters, neither party is pushing the issue that is highly important to many of them: immigration reform.

Do you hear anyone talking about immigration reform anymore? asked Floyd Ciruli, Denver pollster and political analyst. They are targeting things talking directly to Hispanic voters but there is too much downside on both sides to bring it into the general conversation.

For Republicans, reaching out to Latino voters has become more prominent in Colorado than before. Unlike election years past, theres not a lot of railing for or against immigration reform, much less talk of stronger deportation policies.

I wouldnt say immigration is taking a back seat, but you cant paint the picture that its the only issue for the Hispanic community, said Ali Prado, the Hispanic press secretary for the Republican National Party. Its an important issue, but the number one issue is the economy, and then education.

But Latino voters and advocates question that stance.

I think there is maybe a disconnect because, yes, the economy and education are big issues, but immigration is something we talk to voters about every single day, said Carla Castedo, Colorado director of Mi Familia Vota, a national, non-partisan get-out-the-vote organization. Most Latino voters are impacted personally by immigration, whether they personally are immigrants or its a family member or a friend.

In fact, 53 percent of Colorados eligible Latino voters are personally acquainted with an undocumented immigrant, according to a poll released Oct. 15 by Latino Decisions. But even though immigration significantly impacts Colorado voters, the outreach approach for Democrats is much the same as Republicans and it doesnt seem to be working very well.

The same Latino Decisions poll showed that 47 percent of Colorado Hispanic voters believe that Democrats are either taking their vote for granted or dont care about Hispanic voters. The poll also showed that 60 percent of Hispanic voters believed Republicans dont care about their vote and 17 percent said that Republicans are being out right hostile to Colorados Latinos.

We wont be ignored by one side and be taken for granted by the other side, Castedo said. The fact that immigration reform wasnt passed really meant a lot, and right now people dont know where to direct their anger.

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Candidates woo Latino voters, ignore immigration reform

Jacquelyn Martin / AP

In this June 30, 2014, photo, President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, pauses while making a statement about immigration reform in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington,D.C.

By Tovin Lapan (contact)

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 | 5:30 p.m.

Hispanic voters are increasingly frustrated with the federal impasse over immigration reform and are souring on Democrats, according to a new poll that also offers insights into the 2016 presidential race.

More than half of the 600 Hispanic registered voters polled by Latino Decisions said immigration is the most important issue in 2014, outpacing jobs and the economy, health care and education.

A majority of respondents said they disapprove of the way Republicans, Democrats and President Barack Obama are handling immigration, with 67 percent giving Republicans a thumbs down on the issue, and 53 percent and 51 percent disapproving of the Democrats and presidents efforts respectively.

Overall, Hispanic voters are more likely in 2014 than they were in 2012 to say they are voting to support the Hispanic community rather than one of the political parties, and Hispanic support of Democrats in general has waned.

Were seeing record high levels of frustration with both parties from Latinos, and we know a lot of that has to do with the lack of progress on immigration, Latino Decision co-founder Matt Barreto said on a press call discussing the results. For Latinos, this issue is even more important than it is to the general electoratea clear majority of Latinos know an undocumented immigrant. For them, immigration is deeply personal and symbolic. Both parties stand to lose serious support if they continue to take the Latino vote for granted. Theres clear signals of that happening in 2014 and even stronger signals for that in 2016.

More than half of those surveyed said they agreed with the statement: The Democratic Party expects Latinos to vote for them, but is unwilling to take political risks or take a stand on behalf of immigrants.

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Poll: Hispanic support of Democrats dipping