Obama Sets TV Address for Biggest Immigration Plan Since Reagan
President Barack Obama will use a prime-time television speech tomorrow to present the biggest reprieve for undocumented immigrants in a generation, even as his order falls short of goals embraced by legislation the U.S. Senate passed last year.
Obamas unilateral action, circumventing a deadlocked Congress, promises to remove the immediate risk of deportation for 4 million to 5 million undocumented immigrants and initiate a showdown with congressional Republicans. The debate may set battle lines for the 2016 presidential campaign and shape the political loyalties of fast-growing ethnic groups for years to come.
Republican congressional leaders accused the president of exceeding his authority. They searched for a response to Obama that satisfies lawmakers, while avoiding a shutdown of the federal government that could hurt the partys image.
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio is fielding demands that include suing the president, censuring him, threatening to cut off all government funding or, perhaps the most likely response, choking off the portion of funds he would need to implement his orders.
Obama and Democrats would reap the political benefits of another government shutdown, said Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole, a Boehner ally.
We have every right to be mad. But when youre upset and mad doing what the person that provoked you wants you to do is usually not a very smart way to go, Cole told reporters. The smart thing is to find another way to deal with the president, because hes trying to pick a bar fight.
The broader political stakes were underscored by the Obama administrations plan to roll out the announcement: a rare prime-time address to the nation via cable TV news channels, Spanish-language Univision, and other outlets. That will be followed by a trip to Nevada, a presidential battleground state.
Nevadas electorate has increasingly trended Democratic as its Hispanic population grows and the ethnic groups political allegiances shift more heavily toward the presidents party.
Obama is hosting a private dinner tonight at the White House with congressional Democrats to lay out the strategy.
Between 4 million and 5 million undocumented immigrants will be protected from deportation for the rest of Obamas presidency, according to a person familiar with the plan. That exceeds the nearly 2.7 million given permanent legal status by the 1986 immigration law signed by Republican President Ronald Reagan.
Here is the original post:
Obama Sets TV Address for Biggest Immigration Plan Since Reagan