In a letter to President Obama, Senate Democrats announced their support of his plan to take action on immigration reform through executive orders.
The Senate Democrats wrote,
We know that enacting a comprehensive immigration bill is the only way to permanently fix our broken immigration system. The Senate-passed bill would overwhelmingly pass the House of Representatives. Because House Republicans have not acted, we fully support your decision to use your well-established executive authority to improve as much of the immigration system as you can.
Some Republicans are claiming that you do not have the authority to act, but we know that you, like previous presidents, have broad executive authority to shape the enforcement and implementation of immigration laws. This authority includes exercising prosecutorial discretion to refine deportation priorities, deferring deportations on a case-by-case basis, and streamlining the legal immigration system. In fact, every President since Eisenhower has used his executive authority to make our immigration system function more effectively. Perhaps the action most similar to what is needed today is the “Family Fairness” policy implemented by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, which deferred the deportation of 1.5 million spouses and children of individuals who were legalized under the Immigration Reform and Control Act, representing 40 percent of the then undocumented population.
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Immigrant communities have waited too long for House Republicans to catch up with the American public’s support for comprehensive immigration reform. We strongly support your plan to improve as much of the immigration system as you can within your legal authority, and will stand behind you to support changes to keep families together while continuing to enforce our immigration laws in a way that protects our national security and public safety.
It’s a new world that congressional Republicans will be entering into in January. Gone are the days when the Senate Democratic majority grumbled about the White House while the White House largely ignored Senate Democrats. After their defeat Democrats are moving more to the left, and they are also growing more unified.
The letter about Obama’s potential immigration action is the first in what will likely be many expressions of congressional Democrats lining up to support the president. Republicans are already showing signs of letting the infighting that has plagued Boehner’s House majority for years spread to the Senate. The roles are reversing. It is going to be up to Republicans to get bills passed while Democrats serve as the questioning opposition.
It can’t be said often enough. President Obama is being forced to take executive action because House Republicans have refused to pass the bipartisan immigration reform bill that cleared the Senate. A new day is coming. Democrats are ready to support their president, and if this occurs, it will be a very miserable two years in the majority for John Boehner and Mitch McConnell.
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