Immigration Reform 2- THE ARENA – Video
Immigration Reform 2- THE ARENA
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Immigration Reform 2- THE ARENA - Video
Archive for the ‘Immigration Reform’ Category
Immigration reform not dead after all?
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- Conventional political wisdom suggests that immigration reform in a midterm election year has a snowball's chance in July of getting any traction.
But maybe that wisdom isn't so conventional.
Some Republicans say they are warily preparing for the possibility that President Barack Obama could use executive action this summer to bypass congressional gridlock and act on immigration reform.
Those changes could include making noncriminals and minor offenders the lowest deportation priorities, a recommendation the Congressional Hispanic Caucus stressed in its meeting earlier this month with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
Republicans have good reason to worry, said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell University Law School.
"If I had to predict, I think the president will make some administrative fine tuning of his immigration policies in the hopes of pacifying the immigration activists," said Yale-Loehr.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Florida, worries that day will come in August when lawmakers have headed home to their districts to campaign.
Diaz-Balart and his staff are cranking up the pace on crafting a measure that would help some undocumented immigrants gain their citizenship through currently existing channels, said Cesar Gonzalez, the congressman's chief of staff. He declined to say which existing channels the bill would use.
He added that the measure would also strengthen border security and try to address the backlog of green card applications for permanent status.
Excerpt from:
Immigration reform not dead after all?
Should Obama use the power of his pen?
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.
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Should Obama use the power of his pen?
Maybe immigration reform isn't dead after all
Monday, April 21, 2014 - 4:35pm
Conventional political wisdom suggests that immigration reform in a midterm election year has a snowball's chance in July of getting any traction.
But maybe that wisdom isn't so conventional.
Some Republicans say they are warily preparing for the possibility that President Barack Obama could use executive action this summer to bypass congressional gridlock and act on immigration reform.
Those changes could include making noncriminals and minor offenders the lowest deportation priorities, a recommendation the Congressional Hispanic Caucus stressed in its meeting earlier this month with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
Republicans have good reason to worry, said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell University Law School.
"If I had to predict, I think the president will make some administrative fine tuning of his immigration policies in the hopes of pacifying the immigration activists," said Yale-Loehr.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Florida, worries that day will come in August when lawmakers have headed home to their districts to campaign.
Diaz-Balart and his staff are cranking up the pace on crafting a measure that would help some undocumented immigrants gain their citizenship through currently existing channels, said Cesar Gonzalez, the congressman's chief of staff. He declined to say which existing channels the bill would use.
He added that the measure would also strengthen border security and try to address the backlog of green card applications for permanent status.
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Maybe immigration reform isn't dead after all
Immigration reform: If Obama moves on his own, how big a political risk? (+video)
President Obama may be ready to ease up on deportations, following reported recommendations under consideration by the Homeland Security secretary. That would please key elements of the Democratic base, but infuriate Republicans.
President Obama has long insisted he does not have the power to waive deportations of illegal immigrants on his own.
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But under pressure from political allies, Mr. Obama may be headed for some changes of immigration policy via the Department of Homeland Security. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson is considering limiting deportations of undocumented immigrants who do not have serious criminal records, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Obama set the stage for the reported recommendations last month, when he ordered Secretary Johnson to review how current immigration law is implemented, with an eye toward conducting enforcement more humanely, as the White House put it.
The change of policy, if adopted, could shield tens of thousands of immigrants now removed each year solely because they committed repeat immigration violations, such as reentering the country illegally after having been deported, failing to comply with a deportation order, or missing an immigration court date, the AP reported.
Such a move would fall short of the larger changes pro-immigrant activists are hoping for, such as granting work permits to the illegal-immigrant parents of American-born children. At the same time, any unilateral move by the administration that grants new rights to certain illegal immigrants would likely anger Republicans, who accuse Obama of abusing his executive powers.
The president has long said the only way to achieve comprehensive immigration reform is to go through Congress. But almost a year after the Senate passed reform legislation on a bipartisan vote, the Republican-controlled House has yet to act.
Earlier this month, House Speaker John Boehner warned Obama not to act on his own, saying it would make it almost impossible to earn the trust needed to pass a new law.
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Immigration reform: If Obama moves on his own, how big a political risk? (+video)