Basically what the article is saying is that President Obama is trying to take action not to provide amnesty for undocumented immigrants, but make it so that they are not being targeted for deportation. That means that they are not legal citizens but Obama certainly is pushing the limits of his power. The last time something like this happened was with resident Ronald Reagan 28 years ago. Clearly, Obama seems to be pro-immigration, but it's always seemed to be a controversial issue. I found it really interesting how we as a country went from being totally anti-immigration with the Chinese exclusion act of 1882 to being this accepting (some of us are, anyway) of immigrants. What would the pros and cons of a action like the one President Obama is making be? Do you agree or disagree with his policy regarding immigration? Is he overstepping his powers as president by trying to remove the threat of deportation from undocumented residents (even if temporarily)?
He needs to take a step back and reconsider what he's trying to do. It's just about going into the area of "abuse of power", and when such a thing is happening concerning the /president/, it's going to have a much bigger impact and a larger scale / more open reaction. What he's thinking of here isn't a good idea in general. If residents are undocumented, then try to get that fixed, and not by deporting them. Anyone and everyone should be able to live here, and I feel like that's a desired basic characteristic for America. Deportation is the opposite of that.
ReplyDeleteI think what Obama is trying to do is a good thing. However, I'm not quite sure if his way of going about it is so wise. Many other presidents in the future, many who may not be doing something for the good (which I think this is) could abuse their power and follow in his footsteps. On the other hand, I think its great that many people can finally stop being scared about being deported. It's horrible how we reject so many people out of our country, and even though its a lot more complicated than it seems, I think they deserve to stay here instead of being excluded like all the Chinese and Africans and Irish before them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Annika, I think it is great that people do not have to worry about deportation and many people can start a new life in the US. People should be given the right to do so. But, the negative consequences is that it can encourage others around the world to come here and it can potentially have the US be overpopulated. Overall, I believe it is a good idea to keep them here, and deal with the consequences later.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Obama has the right intentions, but he may not be going about the situation in the best manner. It is great that immigrants do not have to worry about deportation and that they are safe here in the United States. However, as Aileen stated, there is the worry that the United States may become overpopulated, and therefore, be unable to take care of all the people within this country. This is a well intended idea, but it is also important to think ahead about the consequences of these courses of actions before doing anything rash.
ReplyDeleteI can see where Obama is coming from in regards to his actions. However, eventually the line needs to be drawn somewhere. It seems as though Obama is trying to stall and buy my time in order to properly deal with this situation. Cutting off immigration completely is going to be a very bad idea considering the U.S. reputation. I feel that Obama is trying to find a way to slow the rate of immigrants nicely rather than just tossing the others away.
ReplyDeleteI think that the way he perceives the issue of illegal immigration is very good. However, the way he is approaching it is not effective. He needs to make a more clear statement about this issue. It definitely promotes more trust in our society, because the people who are illegal resident of this country, now can have some freedom to maybe work or get their voices heard of. President Obama is trying to find a more accepting policy towards immigration in this country.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Obama has good intentions, despite the fact that he is overstepping his bounds as far as his authority as president. I think Obama has build up a reputation for taking his power as far as it will go, and that may be a good thing. Rather than getting tied up in politics in an effort to get anything done, it might be good for the president to push for certain changes, as long as he remains in check.
ReplyDeleteIt does indeed seem that he is coming with good intentions. Maybe the use of the full extent of his power may bring about some positive change but that seems like it would be on a case by case basis. I would imagine that it would bring significant changes to the future of the country is future presidents acted similarly with their power.
DeleteAlthough Obama had the right intentions, he is still somewhat abusing his power. As the President, you should execute the laws created by congress not create them yourself. In multiple of his speeches, he states that he not the "Emperor of the United States," and he is the President, and he says that he does not have the power or title to make change to the country, yet he still is.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe he is abusing his power at all. He saw that it was taking too long and decided to take it into his own hands. We also need to take into consideration that in the congress there are racists and that might be why they hold it off. All Obama did was get passed the racism and do what is right.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the president is over stepping his powers here. By Obama letting the illegal immigrants stay he is basically giving a slap in the face to those immigrants who had to work extremely hard to get their citizenship and be able to stay in this country. I understand where Obama is coming from by trying to give everyone the chance to “live the dream”. But I don’t think we are at that stage where the plan he is proposing can be implemented. These illegal immigrants will now start to take away jobs from the actual legal citizens of the U.S. and I just don’t see how that is right.
ReplyDeleteIf immigrants act as good citizens and pay their taxes then there is no reason for them to be deported. Knowing several immigrants, I know that nearly all of them come for better opportunities that they did not have in their countries. Is that not why nearly every immigrant came here? Who are we to deny this to people if they are benevolent. Obama did slightly overuse his power, but it was for good reason.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Alejandro because the immigrants shouldn't be penalized for them taking the opportunity to make their lives better and immigrating here. If they are behaving perfectly fine and acting like a normal citizen, then they shouldn't be deported. Although there are some bad people that come, they should be able to be picked out due to crime or something like that and be deported like normal because they made that decision to commit the crime.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this would be beneficial to immigrants to know that they will not have to worry about the possibility of deportation. Although, we must also consider the possibilities of this. Such a, a consequence of this would be that this would encourage more immigrants to come to the US which could lead to over population ultimately stressing the social construct of the the fabrics of society.
ReplyDeleteI believe that what Obama is doing is a good thing, but he does seem to be stretching his power a bit, however he is giving what every immigrant has been waiting for for years. He is preventing the terrible thing that immigration has brought which is constantly separating families. Immigrants will no longer have to fear this. I know that this is an extremely controversial topic, but the least that can be done is help the immigrants that are already here. I doubt Obama plans on letting every person in to the U.S. considering the potential problem of overpopulation, however it seems that most people are opening up to the idea of immigration of course especially the president. Yes, he may in fact be stretching his power but at the least his intentions are good ones.
ReplyDeleteObama is starting the progress of the fixing the problem with illegal immigrant. I do personally think that it should be fixed, but not just automatically allowed into this nation, but something that gives them the right to stay in this nation. For example, a test or like a reason to stay in this country. I feel that most immigrants that spent time and money to stay in this country as a citizen will try to stop this process as they might see this as unfair and unequal. This problem will still need time to be fixed even if it is addressed now.
ReplyDeleteThis could be a great opportunity for immigrants to start a new life. But also there could be a vast number of immigrants looking for jobs. And if there are too many workers and not enough jobs, there will be a lot of homeless, and that is bad for the economy.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem as though that Obama is meandering about when it comes to the topic of immigration, and that in itself is an issue. Even though Obama is going about the topic carefully, it's still nice to know that he does care about the issue and is willing to make a statement for it, even though the statement that he gave out was a bit weak. I agree with the others in the fact that Obama needs to make a statement which is clear and strong, and it seems that he has good intentions with this issue as well.
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