So in the aftermath of the midterm election, some emboldened Republicans are making plans. For example, Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) has said that impeachment “would be a consideration” if Obama moves forward with executive action to solve our immigration problems. In addition, Republicans have said that they will force the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, which Obama has delayed pending resolution of a court case in Nebraska over the pipeline.
Now here is where it gets ironic. Since June, the price of oil has decreased by 28%. Tar sands oil, which is what Keystone will be carrying, costs between $85 to $110 per barrel to produce. But crude oil is currently selling for $77 a barrel, so the tar sands oil would have to be sold at a loss. Even if we allow the Keystone pipeline to be built, it would go unused unless the price of crude oil goes up dramatically.
And about that impeachment thing. Obama has repeatedly said that if the Republicans would send him a bill he would not take executive action, but if they don’t, then somebody needs to do something to solve the immigration crisis. So Obama has said that he will take executive action to avoid breaking up families by deporting people who are illegal immigrants, but are married to US citizens.
Where were the protests when Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush both did the same thing? They extended amnesty to family members by executive action and there was barely a peep out of anyone. I guess if St. Ronnie does it, it is ok, but if Obama does it, it is grounds for impeachment.
Once again, the Republicans are against anything Obama does.
© Steve Sack
6 Comments
Complicated issue this immigration is.
Ronnie and George I did do the amnesty thing and it opened the flood gates for more to come. Do we want to keep repeating that process? The other problem is Obama hasn’t really said exactly what he plans to fix with executive order, poor messaging has been a continual problem for this administration and this is another example.
Also, the thing I’m really concerned with is that amnesty will not fix the broken immigration process. The illegals here are a result of that broken process and nothing Obama can executively order can fix that.
The whole process of quota’s and processing is broken, the illegals are an effect not the cause.
I know from personal experience just how broken our bureaucracy in the state department is. As I may have stated a few years ago, my wife’s family is Peruvian and we have many relatives living there. One of her younger nephews wanted to visit us a couple years ago for the summer. We had planned to take him to some colleges and just spend some time sightseeing and seeing family. She and I (both US citizens) signed an affidavit affirming that we would sponsor and care for him and ensure he returned to Peru before the expiration of his visa. His request was denied by the US Embassy in Peru. As I know how the Gov’t system in Peru works, I’m guessing that since he didn’t have a fat enough envelope (contribution) to accompany the paperwork it never got past the first person’s desk, even though they work for the US Gov’t. It enraged me, as a veteran of more then 20 year and someone who holds a very high clearance and has ample resources to support the boy, to be denied. I called the state department and they said it was because he didn’t own any property in Peru and was therefore high risk not to return. Duh, he was 18. I argued that I was more then capable given my profession, etc. to mitigate that risk as stated in my affidavit. They still said no.
Granting amnesty will not fix our broken and corrupt system, it simply puts a bandaid on an arterial flow.
Overall, immigration may be a complicated issue, but the issue that Obama wants to act on is pretty simple. People have been illegally coming here for a long time, mainly to do work here that nobody else is willing to do. The question is, if someone has been here for a while, has gotten married to a US citizen, and perhaps even had children, should we deport them and break up the family? Reagan and Bush I said no. Is it really an impeachable offense if the black president also says no?
It is even more ironic when you think about how most black people originally came to this country.
I agree, this President should not be treated any different and I don’t believe he would be impeached. The question is, if the other 2 made a miscalculation, should this President do the same? Or is it politically motivated following the whoopin democrats took in the election and the Hispanics are seen just as potential votes? History has told us voters have a short memory elsewise every Latino would vote republican to honor Reagan and Bush.
I agree that there are lots of hard working good people here illegally that should be provided a path to legal status. We must also acknowledge there are many who are not in that category, so I hope his proposal includes an action plan to address those issues as well.
I guess that is part of the problem in that the information has been vague at best. I agree the President has the authority for prosecutorial discretion on a broad range of offenses. The issue may be more about the numbers involved, while it was 1-2 million for Reagan and BushI, it will potentially be in the tens of millions under this instance. We’ll have to wait until we see what is actually in the plan.
My wife has a brother who was here with his family, ran a business, employed people, never got in trouble but stayed beyond his visa and voluntarily chose self deportation thinking it would be viewed more positively when he reapplied. He is coming up on his ten years since voluntarily leaving, but with the current immigration laws will have a slim-to-none shot at coming back. His wife, kids and grandchild (born after he left) still live here and are legal residents.
It angers people like him and many others who tried to do things the right way and are punished, while others who disregard rules are rewarded.
…at rates employers want to pay.
FTFY.
Immigrants do not come to the U.S. ONLY to work; work can be found in many places. The difference between the U.S. and other places is that the U.S. offers constitutional guarantees to its citizens and to a great extent even its non-citizens. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from being “disappeared” if you don’t happen to agree with the way your country is being run, a high level of law and order that includes freedom from the fear of gangs and sexual slavery… and many other freedoms. The U.S. also offers the opportunity to grow both personally and financially if one earns it, has a social safety net that is MUCH better than nothing, free public education, fairly clean air and water, and a political system second only (and this arguably) to other Western nations.
So, we basically have three choices:
1) Keep our door open while maintaining America as a place to which people WANT to come for all the things it offers,
2) Eject all non-citizens (and be willing to pay whatever it takes to do that) and shut our doors now that “we have ours” and make it perfectly clear that we do NOT welcome people who are willing to earn their place as equals with us or,
3) Take it farther and make America such a miserable place to live that nobody in their right mind would want to come here in the first place.
There’s lots of talk about the president violating the constitution, but it really seems we have lost our way as a people, some of us… lost faith in the whole idea of America as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
I vote for the America people WANT to come to, to make their homes and raise their families and be part of something less selfish than the dictatorships and second- and third-world (and second- and third-rate) countries they lived in before they came here and, yes, I accept that there is going to be some competition for jobs and resources. That’s living.
An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a colleague who had been conducting a
little research on this. And he actually bought me lunch because I discovered it for him…
lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!!
But yeah, thanks for spending some time to discuss this topic here on your web site.