(ThyBlackMan.com) It’s late Wednesday night as I’m writing this. Something politically courageous is brewing. By the time you’re reading this, something huge and historic will have already happened on the long-stagnant issue of immigration reform here in America. President Obama has decided that there’s no time like the present. He’s sick and tired of watching immigration reform being kicked down the road like a soccer ball. After careful consideration, he’s decided that it’s go time.
Boy, oh boy – the Republicans will not be pleased about this.
There is a lot of buzz in and around the Washington, D.C. beltway. There has been for days. Media outlets are speculating that via Executive Action, the President is about to do something big. Something bold. Something benevolent. And millions of immigrants currently in America could stand to benefit as a direct result.
For POTUS, it’s about deferred action. It’s about prosecutional discretion. It’s about using Executive Action to force an inert, disinterested Congress to finally – finally – come together to debate and craft legislation which will deal with America’s broken immigration system once and for all. For the GOP, it’s about perpetual deferment. It’s about unmitigated deportations. It’s about the public display of faux outrage as the justification to stop the President from addressing something everyone knows must be addressed. And the Republican Party is more than willing to use any and every tool in its arsenal to block Mr. Obama on this.
Ted Cruz wants the new, incoming Republican-led Senate and House to block every single one of the President’s nominees – executive or judicial – until he drops his plan to address immigration reform through Executive Action. Rick Perry and Scott Walker want the GOP to make good on recent threats to sue the President. A growing number of Republican Congressmen and Senators are invoking the ‘I’ word – seeking to build enough momentum and intestinal fortitude to impeach Mr. Obama. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh and Erick Erickson – highly influential, conservative figures – demand that Republicans shutdown the United States government. Again. And this time, these two gentlemen want to keep the government closed until President Obama relents.
Here’s what the President said himself via a video released on http://WhiteHouse.gov/Immigration-Action late Wednesday afternoon: “Hi, everybody. Tomorrow night, I’m going to be announcing here from the White House some steps that I can take to start fixing our broken immigration system. Then on Friday, I’m going to be traveling to Del Sol High in Las Vegas – where two years, I laid out the principles for comprehensive immigration reform. Everybody agrees that our immigration system is broken. Unfortunately, Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long. So what I’m going to be laying out are the things I do can with my lawful authority as President to make the system work better even as I continue to work with Congress and encourage them to get a bipartisan, comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem. So tune in tomorrow night at 8:00 from the White House – where I’ll be making the announcement. Del Sol High School, I’ll see you on Friday.”
The weeping and gnashing of teeth in the conservasphere, of course, has already commenced. Interestingly enough though, John Kasich went completely against the grain when asked at the Republican Governors Association conference in Boca Raton, Florida on Wednesday what his thoughts are about President’s Obama’s imminent moves on immigration reform. Mr. Kasich simply stated that though he wasn’t condoning how some of the undocumented immigrants came to this country, he couldn’t condemn the President for trying to remedy the situation by acting alone. Mr. Kasich commented, “I’m open to it.”
We don’t yet know the minutiae of Mr. Obama’s plans on immigration reform. Here’s what he do know, however. The President isn’t advocating for amnesty. He wants the clear, legal establishment of a path to citizenship for the nearly 11 million people who live in the shadows in America who sincerely want to play by the rules. They would have to pay a fine. They would have to pay taxes. They would have to get in the back of the US citizenship line. They would have to submit to – and pass – a background check. They would have to live by our laws. It would take several years (bordering on many) for them to successfully navigate the process, bordering on many years. It would be a long and arduous journey, but once completed, naturalization would be the well-earned prize for those who endure until the end.
The election results of two weeks ago haven’t diminished Mr. Obama. They have emboldened him.
Business is about to pick up. Battle lines have been drawn. I will be watching the President’s telecast with great interest. Believe that, Dreamers.
Get your popcorn and cokes ready. On immigration, the President says it’s go time.
Staff Writer; Arthur L. Jones, III
This talented brother is a local Minister, weekly featured Democratic Op-Ed columnist, non-profit advisor, and sees the Braves winning it all this fall. Rev. Jones welcomes your comments! Please email him directly at: tcdppress@gmail.com.