The Obama administration announced Thursday that it would halt deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants on a case by case basis. The move is aimed at halting deportations for those whose only violation of the law was crossing the border illegally, rather than going through the proper procedures. The administration claims the new focus will allow faster deportations against illegal immigrants who have also been convicted of violent or drug related crimes. Given the President’s current slide in the polls, I find the timing of this announcement interesting.
The President has continuously demonstrated a smart, if somewhat cynical tactic, of ignoring promises he made to certain groups during the election until he needs help with his poll numbers. He did this with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT), the military’s policy of baring homosexuals from serving openly. The President knows he can rely on certain groups to vote Democrat generally and for him specifically, so it makes sense to keep an ace up his sleeve and not play it until he needs some pre-election support. He had promised to repeal DADT during the election, but he waited until he was two years into his administration and he needed to shore up his left wing ahead of some big fights with Republicans. Waiting until he needs their support again allows Obama to remind his supporters why they supported him in the first place; whereas, taking action right away tends to remove the issue from the national discourse, with limited advantage to the President.
I wrote previously that the President thinks all Hispanics naturally support illegal immigration and make no distinction between legal immigrants and those who sneak across the border in violation of the law. I am not so sure this is true, but it does fit the President’s worldview. While the right tends to see people as individuals regardless of color, gender or other traits, the left tends to see groups with similar desires and needs. Therefore it makes sense that the President would assume easing the struggles of illegal aliens would win him broad support among Hispanics. It also makes sense that he would wait until now to announce his new policy, since he is attempting to lock in Hispanic support ahead of the election.
The President has been consistent that he supports a comprehensive immigration reform of the type attempted by former President Bush and supported by Republican Senator John McCain, R-AZ. Opponents argue that immigration reform is code for amnesty for illegal aliens and allowing them to “jump the line” in front of those who came here legally according to the rules is unfair. Left wing Hispanic organization The National Council of La Raza, Spanish for “The Race”, also supports an amnesty and has been critical of the President for not taking action on this issue. Speaking to La Raza, the President said he cannot get such policies through Congress but he is tempted to “go it alone”.
It appears now that this is what the president has decided to do. President Obama is seeking to achieve through executive fiat, the same set of policies Congress has failed to approve under both Republicans and Democrats. Whether or not this will stand up to legal scrutiny remains to be seen. Is a president above the law? Can a president make it the overt policy of his administration to ignore certain laws? The answer to that question to a large degree depends on Congress.
Our system is set up so that each branch of government would check the other. The founders assumed that because people are basically power hungry, anyone in a position of power would seek to subvert and work around Constitutional limitations. Our system allows the each branch of government specific tools to rein in another branch when it oversteps. This only works if each branch remains true to its Constitutional obligations. For almost seventy years Congress has been gradually ceding power to the presidency, and for a very simple reason. Presidents have the bully pulpit and can effectively take their case directly to the people and demagogue any issue. This is much harder for an individual member of Congress or Supreme Court justice to accomplish. In effect the answer to the question of whether a president can subvert the law for his own political ends will depend on how Congress chooses to respond and whether or not the response is successful.
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