Archive for the ‘Immigration Reform’ Category

Young Immigrants: Impulsive or Obama's Conscience?

President Barack Obama stepped back to give Republicans room to pass immigration reform and in swooped the impatience of youth.

Young immigrants, many not here legally, have ramped up their demand that Obama grab what he can now by using his executive authority to suspend deportations and worry later about winning over Republicans to sweeping reforms.

These young immigrants have been dogging Obama for years and got a taste of victory when, before the November 2012 elections, Obama suspended deportations temporarily for young immigrants. That didnt make them go away.

They are back for more and are joined by more established groups, including the National Council of La Raza, who are increasingly saying its time to shift strategies on immigration reform, after more than a decade of no results on comprehensive legislation.

He (Obama) decided to make enforcement a big issue. He thought he was going to be able to change Republicans' minds. It hasnt worked. Republicans hate him and we still dont have comprehensive immigration reform, said Erika Andiola, co-director of the DREAM Action Coalition.

This past weekend a coalition that included the young DREAMers marched to a park near the White House. Other rallies and marches took place in other cities in protest of an estimated 2 million deportations during Obama's presidency.

He (Obama) decided to make enforcement a big issue. He thought he was going to be able to change Republicans' minds. It hasnt worked. Republicans hate him and we still dont have comprehensive immigration reform."

Are these young immigrants the latest voices of conscience for Obama and the country, much like the black youth who sat at whites-only lunch counters or the anti-Vietnam War protestors on college campuses? Or are they impulsive idealists who fail to understand that politics is about give and take and timing?

There was some feeling that the young immigrants were ungrateful when the clash escalated last month. Thats when the president of NCLR called Obama deporter in chief and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus considered issuing a resolution demanding the president expand deportation deferrals he authorized for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants here illegally, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Is DACA nothing? California Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra said at the time. I would talk to the hundreds of thousands of families who today are not in fear, not having their young man or woman, son or daughter deported as a result of DACA. Thats not nothing.

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Young Immigrants: Impulsive or Obama's Conscience?

Immigration Reform Protest – Video


Immigration Reform Protest
Sacramento State students among other protesters outside ICE on Saturday.

By: The State Hornet

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Immigration Reform Protest - Video

Jeb Bush: Immigration is 'not a felony' but 'an act of love'

(CNN) - Jeb Bush said the debate over immigration reform needs to move past derisive rhetoric describing illegal immigrants.

The former Florida governor said in an interview Sunday in College Station, Texas, that people who come to the United States illegally are often looking for opportunities to provide for their families that are not available in their home countries.

"Yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony. It's an act of love, it's an act of commitment to your family," Bush told Fox News host Shannon Bream at town hall event at the George Bush Presidential Library Center.

"I honestly think that is a different kind of crime, that there should be a price paid, but it shouldn't rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families," he said.

"I think we need to kind of get beyond the harsh political rhetoric to a better place."

Bush acknowledged that his comments would be recorded. "So be it," he said before discussing immigration reform, an area where he splits from many in the Republican Party in lobbying for a comprehensive overhaul.

Bush also talked at length about education reform, another issue on which he is at odds with many in the GOP. In his two terms as governor of Florida, Bush overhauled the state's education system, introducing a school voucher program and banning the use of race as a factor in university admissions.

"The system we have today with over 13,000 government-run, politicized, unionized monopolies is probably not the best governance model for 2014 and going forward," he said.

2016 decision by year's end

Bush is considering launching a campaign for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, ramping up his political activity in recent weeks.

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Jeb Bush: Immigration is 'not a felony' but 'an act of love'

"Speaker Boehner needs to give us a vote" on Comprehensive Immigration Reform – Video


"Speaker Boehner needs to give us a vote" on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

By: doggett

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"Speaker Boehner needs to give us a vote" on Comprehensive Immigration Reform - Video

TBT: Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Immigration Reform – Video


TBT: Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Immigration Reform
Majority Leader Eric Cantor has said we can get immigration reform done this year, and he said he #39;s not running away from the issue. Words are nice, but wher...

By: Fast for Families

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TBT: Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Immigration Reform - Video