Immigration Legislation is Dead. Now What?

You don’t need a crystal ball to see that immigration reform legislation is dead. It is consistently one of the most difficult topics for any country to tackle, and we have the most dysfunctional, do-nothing Congress in US history: there isn’t much hope to be found for immigration. While some will stubbornly remain blind to the obvious, immigration reform can only come from unilateral, Presidential action as Congress is, as it has been for years, a place where all hope, optimism and political momentum go to die.

The signs on immigration reform have been there as the DREAM Act, often used as a litmus test for how reasonable someone is on immigration, remains unpassed. The DREAMers that were going to be covered in the bill, who were brought into the country as children, graduated high school and have no serious criminal record, have been given Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This Obama Administration program gives them temporary relief from deportations and allows them to apply for driver’s licenses and work authorization.

For those who have this program and are now driving to work without constantly living under the threat of deportation, the difference in their lives is like day and night. For those against this program, their stance essentially boils down to a “tough on babies” stance, as several of my friends who qualify for the program were taken across country lines as infants, and our system does not allow them to adjust their status.

This program is one of several political balls in play currently; one of many signs of a wave of immigration unreasonability are attacks on DACA, such as the recent ones leveled by Darrel Issa and Ted Cruz (R-TX). Despite the spike in crime in Central America actually driving children and families north, Issa and Cruz blame DACA, and through it the Obama Administration, for the mass spike of children on the border currently.

That isn’t the only sign though: Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), who has refused to allow any immigration bills that weren’t anti-immigrant to come to a vote in years, is filing a lawsuit against the President’s use of authority on programs like DACA; former Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was defeated in a primary in the political upset of the year, hammered by his opponent over “amnesty;” New Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said “Until you secure the borders, you cannot have the conversation about anything else,” falling back on an empty argument that the multi-billion dollar, militant “border surge” in the Gang of 8 bill couldn’t diffuse; Gutierrez, one of the strongest advocates for immigration reform, said that legislation is officially dead in the House: most legislation has been doomed in the House since fringe elements have taken control of the majority party and immigration reform is always an easy target.

There are still a few holdouts like SEIU asking Obama not to pass an executive order or administrative relief to cut down on unnecessary deportations to give the House time. Most advocacy organizations, however, are now looking to Obama to unilaterally cut down on deportations, something well within his constitutional authority.

After the 2012 election, things were supposed to change: Mitt Romney was defeated despite winning an impressive amount of white voters, Karl Rove had his on-air meltdown and even Sean Hannity realized the GOP has to embrace immigration reform to win over Latino and Asian voters. Laura Ingraham, Lou Dobbs and other fixtures within the rights wing infotainment industry haven’t gotten the memo, however, and are decrying anything that has a chance of passing as “amnesty.”

With the GOP paralyzed from by the primary threat, now it’s a more of a matter of when Obama will offer relief rather than if he will: the alternative is waiting until we have a new President to fulfill the first year promise of the last President, and I hope that isn’t a legacy Obama would accept.