Imperial Presidency Grows With Obama Immigration Orders

It is surely not surprising that the New York Times has announced its approval of President Obama’s executive action on immigration enforcement even before the president announces it to the nation tonight. The Times has been encouraging such action since Obama announced last summer it would be forthcoming, and the Thursday morning endorsement, anticipating the president’s address to the nation tonight, is but the latest in a series of editorials encouraging the chief executive to enact by executive order the provisions of the Senate’s Bipartisan Immigration Reform Act, despite inaction by the House of Representatives.

 

Though the Senate passed the bill in June 2013, the House leadership had still not brought it up for a vote a year later. So on June 30 of this year, President Obama publicly vented his frustration over the “failure of the House Republicans to pass a darn bill” and announced he would act on immigration reform “without Congress.” Tonight he will spell out his plan, which is expected to include temporary safety from deportation, along with work permits, for some four to five million people now residing in the United States illegally.

 

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