Opinion Immigration: Conservatives, you've been conned by Obama's immigration actions

IamAman · 06-16-2015, 03:50 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/...ion-plans.html

If this was true, all Republicans have to do is to pass immigration reform and call Obama's supposed bluff, but they won't. Sometimes Ruben Navarrette tries to be too clever.

Quote:

When the conversation shifts to immigration, conservatives can be awfully foolish, gullible and hardheaded.

All three traits are in evidence in how folks on the right are reacting to a recent ruling by a three judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction against President Obama’s execution action on immigration.

Judging from what’s being said on talk radio and cable television shows, many conservatives don’t seem to understand what happened here, what it means, and how they should respond.

Some of them think they’ve won a major battle. The truth is, they’ve lost the war.

Obama got out of a tough scrape by proposing an executive solution to the country’s immigration mess that he knew would fail and letting the judiciary take the heat while he got praised for his leadership on a difficult issue without taking the lumps that come from actually leading. It was a first-class political maneuver.

Republicans, you’ve been hustled. The White House set a trap, and you charged right in.

It’s similar to what happened back in 2006 and 2007, when Democratic Senate Harry Reid, the master politician, discreetly killed bipartisan immigration reform bills while making it appear as if Republicans were to blame. Reid was doing the bidding of Democratic Party benefactors in organized labor, which is full of blue-collar workers who don’t want to compete with newly-legalized immigrants who have a stronger work ethic.

Now, it has happened again. Obama took a page from Reid’s playbook, and ran a similar game on you with executive action.

As I walk through the hubbub over Obama’s executive action — or as I call it “The Big Con” — keep in mind four things.

First, if you think you have problems reconciling the two factions of the Republican Party — big business which wants more immigrants and nativists who want fewer — Democrats have to keep the peace between two competing constituencies. They have to please both organized labor which — despite phony proclamations by its leaders — actually oppose legalizing the undocumented and Latinos, most of whom support it. Bridging that divide will take a little finesse, and a lot of dishonesty

Second, the courts have not settled the question of whether Obama exceeded his authority in allowing some undocumented immigrants (i.e., the parents of U.S.-born children) to apply for three-year deferred status so they couldn't be deported. The lower court hung its injunction on the fact that states might have to provide services if Obama’s executive action went into effect; and the fact that the White House failed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, which calls for public notice. Are we to believe that all the smart lawyers at the White House Counsel’s Office and Justice Department skipped that day in law school? Here’s a more plausible idea: This executive action was supposed to fail.

Third, for those conservatives who insist that Obama will stop at nothing in his attempts to push temporary deferred action (which the right incorrectly calls, “unlawful executive amnesty”), perhaps they can explain why the administration has stopped pushing. The Justice Department have announced that it will not ask the Supreme Court for permission to carry out the president’s deferred action. Administration officials claim that their decision to give up reflects an undeniable reality, insisting that the undocumented immigrants who would apply for the program would be scared off by continued legal wrangling. That’s absurd. Meanwhile, a fight over presidential authority continues in the lower courts. But that question won’t be resolved for year or two, officials said, meaning that Obama is off the hook for the rest of his term.

Fourth, even though the courts said that the size of the impacted group was part of the problem — with as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants eligible for deferred action — Hillary Clinton, the likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, has said that she thought Obama didn’t go far enough. She promised that, if elected, she would take executive measures that spared from deportation even more immigrants. Why repeat this gesture and expand it? Simple. Because it worked for Obama, allowing him to sidestep warring factions of the Democratic Party and get praised for making the effort without having to suffer the blowback that he would have experienced if successful. Of course, Democrats will repeat this stunt.

What just happened? Obama got out of a tough scrape by proposing an executive solution to the country’s immigration mess that he knew would fail and letting the judiciary take the heat while he got praised for his leadership on a difficult issue without taking the lumps that come from actually leading. It was a first-class political maneuver.

As for the Republicans, well, they don’t know what hit them — which all but ensures that they’ll be hit again and again.

Malign0n · 06-16-2015, 08:54 PM

The Democrats won the war. Republicans have realigned to be anti-immigrant and lead nativist sentiment in an effort to excite their ever declining base.

IamAman · 06-17-2015, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malign0n

The Democrats won the war. Republicans have realigned to be anti-immigrant and lead nativist sentiment in an effort to excite their ever declining base.

I would like to think that for half a generations immigrants who become citizens and their families should punish the Republicans for their heartless actions.

Pianoswithoutfaith · 06-17-2015, 07:19 PM

ironically enough, republicans were initially the democrats of today, back in the day

pink · 06-18-2015, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IamAman

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/...ion-plans.html

If this was true, all Republicans have to do is to pass immigration reform and call Obama's supposed bluff, but they won't. Sometimes Ruben Navarrette tries to be too clever.

Typical dirty republiCON politics. They despise and try to oppress you.....Then try to turn you against the other side that is actually doing something (however little it may be) for you. They will try to flip the script by saying democrats are not doing enough for immigrants but yet republicans are not doing ANYTHING whatsover to aid us. IN fact They are not just idling sitting by and doing nothing for us, they are actively trying to do EVERYTHING in their power to block any releif for undocumented people.

swiftp · 06-20-2015, 07:29 AM

Democrats won the war, Republicans won the war..it's all the same since at the end of the day, the immigrant ends up losing.

Demise · 06-20-2015, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftp

Democrats won the war, Republicans won the war..it's all the same since at the end of the day, the immigrant ends up losing.

This.

dreamact9090 · 06-20-2015, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftp

Democrats won the war, Republicans won the war..it's all the same since at the end of the day, the immigrant ends up losing.

it's so freaking sad but so true... and i am depressed...

Pianoswithoutfaith · 06-20-2015, 07:29 PM

What exactly are we losing though? As far I am concern, no one told me I would win anything

Demise · 06-21-2015, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pianoswithoutfaith

What exactly are we losing though? As far I am concern, no one told me I would win anything

You don't win/lose because you're not playing the game. You're a ball on the field getting kicked around.

Democrats promise CIR and forget about it the moment they get into office. Remember the 111th congress? Super majorities? CIR was on the BOTTOM of the to do list all the time. Hell, Michelle's "nutrition" bill upstaged us. "But they couldn't get republicans to the table". Well tell me, how do you get someone to the table when you don't even have a blueprint, let alone a working bill, and the only persons talking about the idea are Graham and Schumer?

Republicans outright tell you they'll deport you.

There's no winning here for you. Neither of the parties wants to legalize you. Democrats can forever use you to get support from your legal friends and families, and they know that once immigration stops being #1 concern for Hispanics some of them will go to republicans because Hispanics tend to be conservative aside immigration. Remember what happened with those legalized under 1986 act? You say that won't happen, but it will.

Republicans on the other hand want you where you are. They won't try to round everyone up and toss you out because they know it's just not doable. So they use the fact you're here to rile up the nativist base so they'll vote for them. Every so often they'll propose some act to make your life just a little more shitty.

They need you!

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Opinion Immigration: Conservatives, you've been conned by Obama's immigration actions