What's behind Obama's bold move on immigration
President Obama's plan to defer deportation for millions of illegal immigrants tests Republicans. Do they go ballistic and hurt themselves? Or can they deny funding for Obama's plan without shutting down the government?
President Barack Obama speaks during the 鈥楥onnectED to the Future鈥� event in the East Room of the White House in Washington Wednesday,
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Washington
President Obama is set to take sweeping executive action aimed at protecting some 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
The move will satisfy a promise Mr. Obama made to immigrant and Latino groups long clamoring for relief on deportations. But it will also enflame already-high partisan tensions in Washington and color the rest of Mr. Obama鈥檚 presidency - as well as the 2016 presidential race.
Obama will make his announcement Thursday in a televised address to the nation at 8 p.m. ET, the president announced in a . On Friday, he heads to Nevada 鈥� a political battleground state with a big Latino population 鈥� to give a speech promoting the move.
鈥淓verybody agrees that our immigration system is broken,鈥� Obama said in the video. 鈥淯nfortunately, Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long.鈥�
He said he will lay out measures that he can take with his 鈥渓awful authority as president鈥� to improve the immigration system, while working with Congress to 鈥済et a bipartisan and comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem.鈥�
Obama has stated in the past that he would 鈥渞ip up鈥� any executive action as soon as Congress passed legislation he was willing to sign.
But the reality is far less hopeful. Republican leaders in Congress have made clear that any broad executive action on immigration would poison their relationship with Obama, and hinder their ability to work together. They call Obama鈥檚 planned move 鈥渆xecutive amnesty.鈥�
Obama, for his part, may well have concluded that he wasn鈥檛 going to get much done anyway with Congress during his final two years in office, and so he might as well act on his own. The Republicans pounded the Democrats in the Nov. 4 midterms, taking control of the Senate and expanding their House majority come January.
Obama鈥檚 immigration move presents a big test for Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. Will their members go nuclear and shut down the government by refusing to fund the government in time for the Dec. 11 deadline? Or will they finesse the situation, finding a way to defund the president鈥檚 moves on immigration without taking action that does further damage to the GOP brand?
House Republicans reportedly crafted two plans Tuesday aimed at countering Obama on immigration without shutting down the government. One plan calls for passing a broad spending bill, then rescinding funds needed to implement Obama鈥檚 immigration move. The other would take the funds out of the spending bill, and make it stand-alone legislation.
鈥淲e went down the government shutdown route a year ago. It didn鈥檛 work, and I think a lot of people that recall that don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 wise to repeat that exercise,鈥� Rep. Tom Cole (R) of Oklahoma told The New York Times. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot more than just a sledgehammer in the toolbox, and so let鈥檚 use some of these other weapons that we have.鈥�
Notably, though, House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio has not ruled out the possibility of another shutdown. The last shutdown was in October 2013; public blame fell on the Republicans.
Obama and the Democrats see his latest move on immigration as driven by a desire to do the right thing for millions of people in the country illegally and unable to get right with the law. Many have relatives in the United States who are either American citizens or have another form of legal status, including so-called 鈥淒reamers鈥� 鈥� people who were brought into the US illegally as children and are beneficiaries of Obama鈥檚 2012 move to defer deportation.
The executive action Obama will announce on Thursday aims to protect some 5 million undocumented immigrants. Criteria will include how long they have been in the US and family connections in the country.
Republicans see an effort by Obama to goad them into overreacting, and hurting their party鈥檚 image further with Latino voters.
鈥淥bama doesn鈥檛 want to be seen as a lame-duck president,鈥� says Republican strategist Ford O鈥機onnell. 鈥淗e wants to frame this as Republicans being obstructionist, when in fact it鈥檚 Obama who is going against the will of the American people.鈥�
In recent years, Obama鈥檚 posture toward people in the US illegally has shifted. He used to say he didn鈥檛 have the power to waive deportations for broad categories beyond the 鈥淒reamers.鈥� But in the last year, as his frustration with congressional Republicans has grown and pressure from immigration groups has risen, his rhetoric has grown bolder.
Obama also has a vested interested in being succeeded by a Democrat in 2016, as a way to vindicate his record and protect his legacy. In the next election, the fast-growing Latino community will be as critical a voting bloc as ever.