Obama plans to use executive power to reform immigration system

President Barack Obama  this Monday gave live to reform of the immigration system, the initiative that would define his second and final term in the White House.

Having found that this year Republicans would refuse to submit the bill to a vote in the House of Representatives, Democrat Obama said in an appearance in the White House Rose Garden he will opt to use his executive powers to fix the broken immigration system. The statement had the solemnity of one of the serious moments of his presidency.

Accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden,  the president accused Republicans of blocking a  legislation necessary for economic, human and security. He said he has instructed the Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, and Attorney General Eric Holder to strengthen border security. And he charged them that before the end of summer make proposals for action.

The law, in addition to strengthening the border with Mexico, should provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants – most – Latin origin now living in the USA. In June 2013 the Senate Democratic majority passed a version of reform with 68 votes in favor, including those of prominent Republicans and 32 against. But reform is grounded in the Republican majority House of Representatives. Speaker John Boehner, refused to even allow a vote, although according to the law the Democrats had the support of enough lawmakers – Democrats and some Republicans.

If health care reform was the flagship project of Obama’s first term, immigration reform was the second. Both laws were ambitious projects to define the legacy of President.  His predecessor, Republican George W. Bush also won in 2006 the Senate passed a similar reform, but that, like the present, sinking over the opposition of the right of the Republican Party.

By providing immigration reform through executive orders, Obama admits his helplessness before a Congress that has, since 2011, blocked its key initiatives.

“I just adopted executive actions when we have a serious problem, and Congress decides to do nothing,” Obama said. “And in this situation, the failure of the House Republicans to pass a darn bill is bad for our economy and bad for the country”.

The failure of immigration reform is not a surprise. The systematic blocking of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives left little doubt about its poor viability. In the past month have complicated things even more.

The defeat in a primary election of the leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Eric Cantor, was interpreted as a sign that the conservative base would not tolerate the slightest warmth of their leaders on immigration: not be in favor of reform Cantor was not one of the most strident critics.

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Posted by Jamshed Sindhu on Jul 2 2014. Filed under Latest News, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.