To be clear, no one will be getting “amnesty” under Obama’s executive action. Nobody will be getting a path to citizenship or even a green card. The main thing that the president can do is to offer temporary relief from deportation to certain undocumented immigrants, allowing them to live and work openly.
Still, for now there are practical reasons why the president should make his immigration action as broad as possible. He is going to face intense pushback from GOP lawmakers no matter what he does. So why not go big on immigration? A cautious move would disappoint Latino voters and progressives at a time when the president will need allies. Obama’s move could well redefine his legacy with Latinos, who have been frustrated by record deportations and broken promises on immigration.
True, some people may be concerned about the prospect of the president acting alone on such an important issue. However, the nonpartisan American Immigration Council reports that U.S presidents have used their executive authority to take action on immigration at least as far back as 1956; that includes former presidents like Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush.
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