{"id":14182,"date":"2014-11-22T00:01:02","date_gmt":"2014-11-22T08:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=14182"},"modified":"2014-11-22T00:01:02","modified_gmt":"2014-11-22T08:01:02","slug":"small-changes-but-legally-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/22\/small-changes-but-legally-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Changes but Legally Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night, I Watched Barack Obama address the nation on temporary immigration reform.  I had hoped that his solution might be more inclusive, but I understand that he wanted to leave no question that his action was legally sound.  On that he succeeded.  Republicans have lo legal basis on which to challenge him, and resorted to filing a frivolous lawsuit against him over the ACA, a clear demonstration of their impotence.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"1122Obama\"President Obama\u2019s unilateral  overhaul<\/a> of the nation\u2019s immigration system is bittersweet. <\/p>\n

On one hand, it blocks deportation and grants work permits\u2014for the rest of Obama\u2019s term in office\u2014to 5 million unauthorized people who have been in the country for at least five years. These mostly are the parents of children who were born here (and are citizens) and young people who arrived as children and grew up as typical Americans<\/strong>. It also ends some of the more punitive practices in federal policing, such as the Secure Communities program, where local cops turned people over to federal agents, starting the deporation [sic<\/em>] treadmill, even if the undocumented person had not been convicted of a crime. Now, police will only refer cases to immigration authorities if there was a prior criminal conviction<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\u201cFelons, not families. Criminals not children. Gang members, not a mother who\u2019s working hard to provide for her kids,\u201d Obama said Thursday in a nationwide  address<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ll prioritize, just like law enforcement does every day.\u201d <\/p>\n

But there are big disappointments as well, such as  leaving out<\/a> the parents of Dreamers (undocumented children raised as Americans), and not taking any action on unauthorized farmworkers. The White House, which knows that Republicans in Congress and many red states are vowing to block its actions, explained that trying to shield those categories of people from deportation was on shakier legal ground<\/strong>. The parents of Dreamers, like their children, are non-citizens, they  said<\/a>. Helping farmworkers would single out one industry, while many others also rely on undocumented workers. The ongoing prospect of many families still being split up remains a real and inhumane threat\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <AlterNet<\/a>> <\/p>\n

Lets be clear about that.  Obama\u2019s action was never intended to solve the immigration issue.  It was an attempt on his part to do what the law allows to prevent some of the suffering that Republicans are causing through their refusal to pass a comprehensive solution to the problem.<\/font><\/p>\n

If you missed the speech, here it is in its entirety.<\/font><\/p>\n

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