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Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - 10:16pm

CNN WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Immigration champion Rep. Luis Gutierrez feels confident that President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to push through reform. House Speaker John Boehner feels confident that doing so will tank what little support the President has among Republicans on immigration reform.

They're both right, immigration law experts say.

After pushback from immigration activists and some members of his party, the President has directed his administration to reexamine its deportation policy.

The administration could shift noncriminals and minor offenders to the lowest deportation priorities.

"I think the President has a difficult decision to make here," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell University Law School. "The courts have upheld wide discretion on immigration matters ... he could make noncriminals the lowest deportation priorities. ... But there is a penalty he could pay through using executive action rather than waiting for Congress to act on immigration reform."

That political price, Boehner told Fox News last week, is "that will make it almost impossible to ever do immigration reform, because he will spoil the well to the point where no one will trust him by giving him a new law that he will implement the way the Congress intended."

"The American people want us to deal with immigration reform," Boehner said on Fox News' "Kelly File" during the same interview. "... But every time the President ignores the law, like the 38 times he has on Obamacare, our members look up and go, 'Wait a minute: You can't have immigration reform without strong border security and internal enforcement, how can we trust the President to actually obey the law and enforce the law that we would write?' "

Legislation stuck in the House

Last year, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform package -- which includes a citizenship path for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country -- with scant Republican support. But that legislation has been stymied in the Republican-controlled House as lawmakers there hammer out more incremental approaches to such things as a path to legalization.

Read more from the original source:
Should Obama use the power of his pen to turn the tide on immigration reform?

By Carrie Dann

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says that he and President Barack Obama clashed Wednesday during a phone conversation about immigration reform.

But the White House has a different story.

One year after the Senate introduced its comprehensive immigration bill, which passed the upper chamber but has not been taken up by the GOP-led House, Obama issued a written statement criticizing Republican leaders for failing to take up the legislation. We have a chance to strengthen our country while upholding our traditions as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants, and I urge House Republicans to listen to the will of the American people and bring immigration reform to the House floor for a vote, he said.

Then Obama called Cantor, who blasted out a statement making clear that he was no fan of Obamas message.

The President called me hours after he issued a partisan statement which attacked me and my fellow House Republicans and which indicated no sincere desire to work together, Cantor said in a statement. After five years, President Obama still has not learned how to effectively work with Congress to get things done. You do not attack the very people you hope to engage in a serious dialogue.

The Virginia Republican reiterated that the House has no intention of taking up the Senates reform bill, which many GOP lawmakers call unfair amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

However, a White House official described the call as pleasant and said they were surprised by how Cantors staff had characterized the exchange. The call was imitated so that the president could wish the House Majority Leader a happy Passover, according to the official.

But Cantors version of the conversation did not mention any well wishes.

I told the President the same thing I told him the last time we spoke, Cantor said. House Republicans do not support Senate Democrats' immigration bill and amnesty efforts, and it will not be considered in the House.

Originally posted here:
Cantor Blasts Obama After Immigration Reform Call

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama and the Republican leadership clashed over the immigration reform, which analysts say would make it difficult for the passage of the legislation that proposes to provide a path to citizenship to 11 million undocumented people from countries like India.

"Unfortunately, Republicans in the House of Representatives have repeatedly failed to take action, seemingly preferring the status quo of a broken immigration system over meaningful reform," Obama yesterday said in a strongly worded statement following which he spoke with the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

"The President called me hours after he issued a partisan statement which attacked me and my fellow House Republicans and which indicated no sincere desire to work together. After five years, President Obama still has not learned how to effectively work with Congress to get things done. You do not attack the very people you hope to engage in a serious dialogue," Cantor said.

Cantor said House Republicans do not support Senate Democrats' immigration bill and amnesty efforts, and it will not be considered in the House.

"I hope the President can stop his partisan messaging, and begin to seriously work with Congress to address the issues facing working middle class Americans that are struggling to make ends meet in this economy," Cantor said.

In his statement, Obama alleged that instead of advancing commonsense reform and working to fix the immigration system, House Republicans have voted in favor of extreme measures like a punitive amendment to strip protections from 'Dreamers'.

"The majority of Americans are ahead of House Republicans on this crucial issue and there is broad support for reform, including among Democrats and Republicans, labor and business, and faith and law enforcement leaders," he said.

"We have a chance to strengthen our country while upholding our traditions as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants, and I urge House Republicans to listen to the will of the American people and bring immigration reform to the House floor for a vote," Obama said.

The Immigration Reform Bill passed by the Senate, Obama said, would grow the economy by USD 1.4 trillion and shrink the deficit by nearly USD 850 billion over the next two decades, while providing a tough but fair pathway to earned citizenship to bring 11 million undocumented individuals out of the shadows, modernizing the legal immigration system, continuing to strengthen border security and holding employers accountable.

"Simply put, it would boost our economy, strengthen our security, and live up to our most closely-held values as a society," Obama said.

View post:
US President Barack Obama, Republican leaders clash on immigration reform

Lack of immigration reform leads children to cross US border alone
The death of an Ecuadorian children on the border between Mexico and the United States alerted authorities on the increasing amount of minors crossing the US...

By: teleSURenglish tv

Here is the original post:
Lack of immigration reform leads children to cross US border alone - Video

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Immigration champion Rep. Luis Gutierrez feels confident that President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to push through reform. House Speaker John Boehner feels confident that doing so will tank what little support the President has among Republicans on immigration reform.

They're both right, immigration law experts say.

After pushback from immigration activists and some members of his party, the President has directed his administration to reexamine its deportation policy.

The administration could shift noncriminals and minor offenders to the lowest deportation priorities.

"I think the President has a difficult decision to make here," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell University Law School. "The courts have upheld wide discretion on immigration matters. He could make noncriminals the lowest deportation priorities. ... But there is a penalty he could pay through using executive action rather than waiting for Congress to act on immigration reform."

That political price, Boehner told Fox News last week, is "that will make it almost impossible to ever do immigration reform, because he will spoil the well to the point where no one will trust him by giving him a new law that he will implement the way the Congress intended."

"The American people want us to deal with immigration reform," Boehner said on Fox News' "Kelly File" during the same interview. "But every time the President ignores the law, like the 38 times he has on Obamacare, our members look up and go, 'Wait a minute: You can't have immigration reform without strong border security and internal enforcement. How can we trust the President to actually obey the law and enforce the law that we would write?'"

Legislation stuck in the House

Last year, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform package -- which includes a citizenship path for an estimated 8 million of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Here is the original post:
Obama's deportations dilemma