President Obama’s executive action on immigration reform has sparked both gratitude and outrage across the country. To supporters, his address is viewed as the partial fulfillment of a long overdue campaign promise. To protesters, it only adds to the list of executive actions that seem to overstep his presidential powers. Regardless of ideological views, Obama’s executive action poses several consequential implications not only for the future of immigration reform but for the future of our country as a whole.
Obama repeatedly stated throughout his address that the actions he was taking were, “not only lawful, they’re the kinds of actions taken by every single Republican President and every single Democratic president for the past half century.” In regards to taking executive action, Obama was correct in his statement. In regards to immigration reform, Obama touched upon an even more startling fact: Executive action has now been taken 40 times by the past 11 presidents to address issues regarding immigration. These numbers beg the question: why hasn’t our nation adopted comprehensive immigration reform in recent years?
The answer to this question boils down to the fact that the issue of immigration is still a highly controversial subject. On the surface, it may seem that the issue of immigration is purely the source of a perennial debate ideologues love to hold. However, the issue of immigration crosses the borders of the social realm and enters that of the economic. It bridges the gap between the rich history of our nations and the modern dilemmas we face as an evolving society. With this in mind, it is no wonder why comprehensive immigration has yet to be seen in modern times. However, the question still stands as whether the right steps have been taken in the past and recently to address the issue.
In particular, Obama’s most recent decision to take executive action must be examined carefully and with the utmost scrutiny considering the highly polarized state of our nation. On the one hand, his actions have temporarily bypassed the gridlock faced in Congress and may prompt more comprehensive immigration reform in the future. On the other hand, his executive action follows the Republican resurgence in the Congressional midterm elections and leaves many asking whether he is setting the right tone for the final two years of his presidency. Praise or protest, every American must be conscious of what Obama’s executive action means for our country as a whole.