With Obama pressed to ease deportations, child migrant crisis is pushing back
| Washington
A month ago, the trajectory of immigration politics in America was pretty well set: no immigration reform in the House this year, and the president expected to slow deportations on his own, through 鈥減rosecutorial discretion.鈥�
The crisis involving migrant children on the border may well change that dynamic 鈥� and not in President Obama鈥檚 favor.
鈥淧art of the narrative right now is that 鈥榩rosecutorial discretion鈥� and lax enforcement have contributed to the problem at the border,鈥� explains Marc Rosenblum, an expert on US immigration policy at the Migration Policy Institute think tank in Washington. 鈥淭hat makes it harder to make a big announcement鈥� to ease up on deportations, he says.
The administration is working to send the message to families in Central America, from which a surge of migrant children is coming, that the cost and danger to get their children to the United States is not worth it: Most of the children do not qualify to stay and will be deported. That鈥檚 one reason Mr. Obama is seeking $3.7 billion in emergency funds from Congress 鈥� to speed up the adjudication of these cases.
But if, at the same time, the administration eases up on deportations elsewhere, then 鈥渢here鈥檚 a real dissonance" in the message, says Mr. Rosenblum.
That, however, is not the view of many of the president鈥檚 supporters, including聽organized labor and聽members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who met with the president Wednesday聽to urge that due process be preserved for the child migrants.聽Both groups continue to pressure the president to use his executive authority to ease deportations so that workers are not taken advantage of in the workplace and families are not torn apart.
The child-migrant problem is a separate issue from executive action on deportations or immigration reform, the AFL-CIO 蝉迟谤别蝉蝉别蝉.听
鈥淭he situation along the border is a refugee crisis that requires a humane, lawful response and must not be politicized,鈥� said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, in a statement Tuesday. 鈥淟ifting the pressure on immigrant workers was needed before the child refugee story developed, and it is no less urgent today,鈥� he said, adding that the administration must 鈥渁ct now鈥� to keep 鈥渁ll families together.鈥�
The urgency of the child-migrant situation is the kind of crisis that can work two ways at once, says Julian Zelizer, a congressional historian at Princeton University in New Jersey. It can 鈥済alvanize鈥� hard-line Republicans who point to the crisis as evidence that the immigration problem must be addressed through tighter border security.
It can also 鈥渋nspire鈥� immigration reform advocates to be tougher with Obama, both on executive actions and keeping up the pressure for comprehensive reform. 鈥淭his can symbolize to them the kind of chaos that legislative inaction has caused,鈥� Professor Zelizer says.
If the president is looking to what the public wants, he鈥檚 getting plenty of signals from polls released this week.聽
First, Americans are unhappy with the way he鈥檚 handled the border crisis, with 58 percent disapproving, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll.
Second, more than half (53 percent) say they want the legal process for dealing with the Central American child cases speeded up, even if it means that some minors who are eligible for asylum are deported, according to the Pew Research Center.
And third, a plurality of Americans now list immigration as their No. 1 concern 鈥� 17 percent, more than at any time since 2006, according to Gallup. And, if they鈥檙e unhappy with Obama鈥檚 handling of the child-migrant crisis, they鈥檙e even more disappointed with Republicans in Congress on the crisis (68 percent disapprove).
All of this might suggest to House Republicans that most Americans still want immigration reform (they do, according to polls). But then there鈥檚 that 鈥済alvanizing鈥� point that Zelizer makes.聽
Pew found Republican support for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants dropped 10 percentage points since February 鈥� to 54 percent. It was even more dramatic among tea party Republicans, who flipped from majority support for legalization to majority opposition.
So the Republican position on immigration looks hardened as a result of the crisis, while the president's looks weakened.聽
A quick, bipartisan, and humane resolution could improve both sides鈥� standing.聽"There's more that Republicans and Democrats agree on than disagree" in this crisis, says Rosenblum. The urgency of the crisis, and the fact that so many children are involved, is a motivator.
