President Obama will announce the details of his “executive action” on immigration on Thursday. While this action is not, by any means, the reform our broken immigration system needs to intelligently function, it is all we have right now —- and all we will likely have in the near future.

Contrary to what a handful of political pundits are broadcasting, the President is well within his lawful authority to act in this manner, statutorily, constitutionally and based on prior executive precedent…… ALSO, to clarify the rampant mistruths proliferating through propagandistic news channels, this executive action is only a TEMPORARY measure, not amnesty!  It is an executive action measure used by other presidents, including Bush and Reagan. The mischaracterizations in some of the media have been absolutely astounding and downright ridiculous.

In a nutshell, the President is expected to issue an an action to ‘temporarily defer’ deportations of parents of U.S. citizens and other selected individuals who pose no threat to our country. This action does not legalize people who are here illegally, it merely puts them at the bottom of the list for deportation.  I am hoping the President’s action will also include broadening visa programs for highly skilled technology workers.

As the President has said repeatedly, once Congress goes to work and gives him a genuinely workable and comprehensive immigration bill, his executive ‘action’ can be overridden and no longer needed. As an attorney on the frontlines of practicing immigration law, I can tell you that MISinformation regarding immigration and immigration issues is rampant — and unfortunately, the MISinformed repeat, echo and reiterate incorrect information.

Again, the incoming Congress in January can still pass permanent, comprehensive reform!  Our president’s executive action is temporary and essentially has to do with ‘prioritizing scarce resources.’  Who wants to deport parents of US citizens? Shouldn’t the government put those individuals at the bottom of the deportation list and concentrate on deporting hard core criminals?  That is what ‘deferment’ of deportation is!  It is NOT legalization.  Rather, it is a temporary, protective deferment.

One final note: Our President’s executive action falls well within the purview of his duties under Article II of our Constitution.   Yes, he is limited in what he can do under our country’s separation of powers.   But understand that prosecutorial discretion in regard to how laws are executed and enforced is a task apportioned to the executive branch, not the legislative branch, nor the judicial branch.  

Yes, I would have preferred for our Congress to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform (because that, indeed, is outside of the realm of what our President can lawfully do), but unfortunately, our House would not allow that to happen, despite having the needed votes to pass it.  If you will recall, the Senate’s comprehensive immigration measure passed and was sent to the House for a vote over a year ago, which had been expected to pass with flying colors.   Unfortunately, our Speaker refused to introduce it, put it on the table for debate and allow a vote….

So, here we are…. and still, at the end of the day following our President’s announcement,  we will still need REAL, COMPREHENSIVE, PERMANENT #immigrationreform.

Here is the Washington Post article.

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