Immigration Reform Through Executive Orders

In June, President Obama declared that he would use his authority as the executive to circumvent congress in regards to immigration.  An executive order is an order signed by the President that has the effect of law. The constitution gives the President the executive power and the power to uphold the laws that congress delegates to the executive office. When the President signs an executive order it is in relation to anything that falls within this specific jurisdiction. Because of this, the President is usually pretty careful to site which law grants him the authority to act when writing an executive order.  

President Obama said he would sign an executive order by the end of summer regarding the current US immigration system. Since Labor day (the unofficial end of summer) has come and gone, many question when he will sign executive orders that address the immigration situation in the US. Many in the media have postured that he will wait until after the November midterm elections so that immigration is not a reason that democrats in close congressional races throughout the nation lose their elections. Hispanic leaders have criticized Obama for delaying the executive orders, caving to election year politics. (Obama’s delay on immigration action brings storm of criticism from Hispanics, liberal supporters at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/07/obama-reportedly-delay-on-immigration-reform-brings-storm-criticism-from/.)

As mentioned above the President cannot simply change the current law, he must work within the realm that congress and the constitution have delegated to him. Here are a few ideas of what the President can do through an executive order.

1.     One is to change the policy of how green cards are deducted from the caps set up by congress. About half of the 140,000 green cards that are set aside for employment immigration go to family members of the immigrant. The immigration code does not address who receives the green cards so the president could feasibly change the policy to allow all the green cards from the employment based categories to go the immigrant and not include the family in the count. (The executive action Obama should take on immigration, http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/immigration/216207-the-executive-action-obama-should-take-on-immigration.) The family could still come with the immigrant worker but they would not count towards the cap.

2.     Another consideration is the expansion of DACA to include millions more immigrants. The president cannot change the citizenship process, but he can decide who to deport. “Congress does not appropriate enough money to deport all of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.”  (Immigration question: How far can the president go on executive actions?, http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/07/politics/obama-executive-actions/.) The president can set priorities on those who are put in removal proceedings by focusing more on deporting criminals and dangerous immigrants rather than those who, aside from their illegal immigration status, are law abiding. By allowing more people to qualify for the DACA program it frees up the system to focus on other more harmful people to the American system. 

      Do you agree with the President? What would you like to see happen in regards to executive action regarding immigration. Post your comments below.