Obama to detail immigration order Thursday night
By Dave Boyer
The Washington Times
Updated: 1:43 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19, 2014
President Obama said Wednesday he will use “my lawful authority as president” to issue a highly anticipated executive order on immigration in a prime-time address from the White House on Thursday night.
In a video posted on Facebook, Mr. Obama said he will outline “some steps that I can take to start fixing our broken immigration system.” His action is expected to grant legal status and work permits for as many as 5 million illegal immigrants and touch off a firestorm with congressional Republicans.
“Everybody agrees that our immigration system is broken,” Mr. Obama said in the video, seated on the edge of his desk in the Oval Office. “Unfortunately, Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long. So what I’m going to be laying out is the things that I can do with my lawful authority as president to make the system work better even as I continue to work with Congress and encourage them to get a bipartisan, comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem.”
He said he will address the nation at 8 p.m. Thursday, and follow it with a trip to a high school in Las Vegas on Friday, where he’ll lay out more details of the plan.
The White House may have been forced into making the announcement sooner than planned when the AFL-CIO inadvertently disclosed the plans in an email Wednesday.
“We hear there will be a prime time Thursday evening announcement (to preview) and full unveiling in Vegas on Friday,” AFL-CIO spokesman Jeff Hauser wrote in an e-mail to members, a message that was also inadvertently sent to reporters. “Can folks begin to work and plan watch parties for Thursday and/or Friday? Unclear whether Thursday night content will be what is ‘celebratory,’ but Friday will be where we need a lot of energy guaranteed.”
The executive order will set up a showdown between the White House and Republicans in Congress, who have warned Mr. Obama not to take the action.
“If ‘Emperor Obama’ ignores the American people and announces an amnesty plan that he himself has said over and over again exceeds his constitutional authority, he will cement his legacy of lawlessness and ruin the chances for congressional action on this issue — and many others,” said Michael Steel, a top aide to Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican.
Reuters said Mr. Obama’s immigration order will expand assistance for undocumented residents brought to the U.S. as children.
Rep.-elect Mia Love, Utah Republican, said Thursday that Mr. Obama’s plan for executive amnesty looks “more like a dictatorship” than a democracy.
“This is not about the president,” she said on “Fox and Friends.” “It’s about the American people, and what the American people want the president to do. The American people want Congress to work with the president, want the president to work with Congress so that we can be compassionate, so that we can create a uniform rule of naturalization.”
She added, “It is Congress’ job under Article 1, Section 8 [of the Constitution], to create a uniform rule of naturalization, a way in. It should be done line by line, section by section with the input of the public instead of being done by one person. It looks more like a dictatorship when a president is unilaterally making decisions for the American people.”
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat, suggested on the House floor Tuesday that Americans who oppose granting legal status to illegal immigrants are “selfish.”
“This is not amnesty,” Ms. Jackson Lee said. “This is prioritization. This is saving money. This is keeping families together. This is allowing children to not come home to places where their parents have been thrown from their places of work and taken away from them. I am excited about the courage of this president. I look forward to America finally understanding the gifts you that you are given. Let us not be a selfish nation. Let us be a generous nation.”
Nearly half of Americans disapprove of Mr. Obama’s expected plan, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
In the survey released Wednesday, 48 percent oppose Mr. Obama taking executive action on immigration, while 38 percent support it; another 14 percent have no opinion or are unsure. Nearly half of Americans disapprove of Mr. Obama’s expected plan, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll said.
In the survey released Wednesday, 48 percent oppose Mr. Obama taking executive action on immigration, while 38 percent support it; another 14 percent have no opinion or are unsure.
