Barack Obama entered the stately Roosevelt Room and assumed his customary spot. Many of the nation’s leading immigration advocates had been waiting for him inside the windowless meeting space in the West Wing, eager to make their case. The president’s reserved chair was situated at the center of the long conference table, its back slightly elevated, a gentle reminder of power, but this did not seem to intimidate the activists on that March afternoon in 2010...

One after another, they spoke their minds, telling the president what he had done or not done that bothered them. They complained that a rising number of deportations on his watch were “terrorizing” Hispanic neighborhoods and tearing apart good families. They warned that he was losing credibility with a crucial constituency that had put its faith in him...

Obama’s body stiffened, according to several witnesses, and he started to argue with them. If they wanted meaningful change, he said, they should focus their pressure on the Republicans in Congress who opposed reform, not on him. He was with them but could only do so much. “I am not a king,” he said...

[In the 2010 State of the Union Adress] “This year,” he said, “I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.”

On immigration, the president was not specific. “We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system — to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation,” Obama said. Where he had promised Hispanics during the campaign that he would tackle the issue of immigration reform in his first year, Obama was now beginning his second year with a statement that struck advocates as disappointingly limp.

Immigration advocates watching the speech instantly noticed the contrast: They got vague boilerplate language while the gays got a firm timeline.

They responded by planning a mass demonstration on the Mall for late March. Obama’s aides, aware of the rally, seemed concerned and invited the advocates to sit down with him. That was the progression of events that led to the meeting in the Roosevelt Room...
The rise of the tea party — and polling numbers showing a growing anti-Washington wave threatening the Democratic majorities in Congress — added to a desperate sense among activists that their window of opportunity was closing fast....

The president grew visibly frustrated as each successive advocate spoke. He said that the advocates, too, should be pressing Republican lawmakers, that he sympathized with their concerns but that he did not have the legal authority to stop deportations.

Tensions mounted when Obama argued that his administration’s policy was to focus on deporting criminals and others deemed to be security threats.
“No, Mr. President, that’s not what’s happening,” interjected Angelica Salas, the head of the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. She was seated directly across the table from Obama and leaned toward him as she spoke, her hands trembling and her voice rising. “You’re deporting heads of households, mothers and fathers.” She said that “young people are sitting in detention centers when they should be sitting in the best universities in the country,” according to meeting participants.

Obama looked taken aback by the direct confrontation from Salas and then turned to aides seated against the wall, according to several participants. The aides affirmed that, yes, criminals were the priority.

Turning back to Salas, Obama asked: “What do you want me to do, not enforce the law?” He explained that he could not just ignore laws he didn’t like. The president spoke sternly. Several participants described him as defensive. One person said that, at times, Obama was “pissy.” But they were unconvinced by Obama that he could not stem deportations, and on that point, the two sides debated for some time.

Obama tried at times to break the tension, to demonstrate his sympathy for the cause of immigration. He did so in personal terms, alluding to the story of his African aunt, who at that time was living in Boston illegally and facing deportation.
White House aides had arranged with rally organizers for Obama to address the crowd with a taped message. “I’ve always pledged to be your partner as we work to fix our broken immigration system,” Obama said, “and that’s a commitment that I reaffirm today.”


This is an amazing piece that should open everyone's eyes as to the reason why now Rubio's bill, the Democrats' silence, activists claiming to "represent" Dreamers' interests are all QUIET. They are working backroom deals to help each other; nothing happens organically in the political world. I remember how the media reported that Obama "spoke" to the activists at the March 2010 rally,; no, he didn't, he TAPED a template reponse with the full knowledge of the rally's organizers and made it seem as if he had taken the time out of healthcare negotiations to "speak" to them briefly. What a joke.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...y.html?hpid=z1