POTUS is pushing the envelope with the open threat of an executive order to shield up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
A senior administration official has characterized the 5 million figure as being the upper limit of what the President is considering.
A more realistic number is millions less. Despite that and the fact that no final document has been seen, media has seized upon that huge number as “the” number.
So be it. The sturm and drang is no surprise to the White House, you could make a reasonable argument the information was leaked specifically to stir the pot by pulling the pin a guaranteed hand grenade.
Immigration Reform Act of 1986
A bi-partisan bill was signed into law (click here) by Ronald Reagan to clean up some immigration issues.
The Simpson–Mazzoli bill put some of the onus on employers to be sure their employees were not in the country illegally. It made it illegal for anyone to hire or recruit illegal immigrants “knowingly” and added requirements for employers to attest to the immigration status of their employees.
The Act also allowed for seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants to allow for a migrant labor force to harvest US crops.
The portion of the Act most relevant as a precedent is that illegal immigrants were essentially pardoned and granted legal status with certain qualifications. They had to prove their residence status, that they were not guilty of crimes and that they possessed minimal knowledge of; the English language, US history, and US government.
It’s important to note this was a bi-partisan bill enacted into law, NOT an executive action.
Immigration Executive Action Precedents
In 1987, Ronald Reagan issued an executive order effecting 200,000 Nicaraguan exiles stating no Nicaraguan with a well-founded fear of persecution would be deported and that any requesting a work authorization will be entitled to one.
In 1990, George Bush issued an executive order intended to allow Chinese students to remain in the United States if they feared persecution should they be sent back to China. The legal status of the students in the US was not a requirement for protection. This executive action eventually morphed into the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 that continued to benefit about 54,000 Chinese.
In 1991, George Bush issued an executive order granting a four-year reprieve for Kuwaiti residents evacuated to the US during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. Essentially it was an extension of their temporary visas with an encouragement to pursue permanent resident status.
In 1993, Bill Clinton granted an 18 month extension for Salvadoran immigrants.
In 2001, George Bush granted 150,000 Salvadorans an 18 month extension.
In 2002, George Bush issued an executive order that fast tracked green card holders who enlist in the military. Without the order, soldiers were subject to a three year wait.
Left side web site produced a list of related executive actions (click here) including the above in a “memo” supporting the President. It’s possible to read it to extract the facts from the blatantly biased hyperbole.
Treason! Impeach! Unconstitutional!
Despite a lack of details, there have already been direct threats of impeachment proceedings from GOP people including Rep. Rep. Joe Barton (TX) while chatting with J.D. Hayworth.
The precedent of prior executive actions that were never challenged as being unconstitutional should eliminate that argument from being used effectively, yet that’s the tack and Rep. Walter Jones (NC) used to justify impeachment (click here). He dismissed threats of economic revenge being floated by his compadres as illogical.
That leaves the possibility of a Republican controlled House and Senate making progress on impeachment proceedings by determining the eventual executive order is illegal. It could even gain more traction than the failed “Obama lawsuit”.
Back in 2012 when President Obama allowed undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children to remain here and work, Republicans went batty. Ironically, stay in the country and work, Republicans blew a gasket.
The most common arguments are that prior executive actions affected far fewer people and that there was an emergency that rendered the action humanitarian. Emergencies are in the eye of the beholder, arguments could be made that states of emergency exist in a lot of the home countries of our current crop of illegal aliens.
End Result
Would Republicans close down the government again to somehow “defund” an Obama executive action? Unlikely, given the political flak that would potentially damage their eventual candidate for President.
That leaves the impeachment process.
Depending on how sweeping the executive action is, assuming it actually comes about, impeachment proceedings will probably follow shortly.
Media will then be focused on the impeachment process ad nauseum. Deflection and distraction from inaction and a complete lack of progress on anything meaningful will follow until the run for the White House begins in earnest. The Democrats still have enough people to stall impeachment proceedings.
So, here we are nearly thirty years after the 1986 immigration reform act with the power split between both parties in the interim. Blame, therefore, has to be shared equally.
Now, there are more illegal immigrants in our country. We have borders that remain as porous as cheesecloth. There has been no legislative solution to the issue being provided by anybody other than vague yet obnoxiously strident calls in the “finish the wall” vein.
So maybe a hand grenade down the aisle will be an effective tool. The political fallout for a lame duck President and a wilting Democratic party that will result from a sweeping executive action is predictable to the millimeter, and the President has decided the debate sparked and MAYBE even eventual progress is worth it.
The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order that affected a similar number of people and produced some controversy. The end result was worth it.