Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Protesters carry banner in front of White House during immigration march and rally

President Obama’s promised executive actions to fix parts of the immigration system will not come until after the Nov. 4 elections, but some analysts are predicting anything he does will be treated contentiously, with legal challenges and calls for impeachment. Nevertheless, the possibility that Republicans will in January hold a majority in the Senate as well as in the House solidifies the reasoning for Obama to use executive orders to change administrative policies and enforcement priorities, said panelists at an immigration law and policy conference at Georgetown University Law Center on Oct. 21. The president has promised fixes to what many call the “broken” immigration system, preferably with a bipartisan piece of legislation, since his first campaign for president in 2008. Multiple efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill have failed in Congress. The likelihood of passing comprehensive immigration reform in the next 10 years “is increasingly remote,” said Simon Rosenberg, president and founder of the New Democrat Network, a think tank and advocacy organization, at the Georgetown conference. “We lost our shot.”

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Thomas Farrelly
10 years 6 months ago
There are powerful arguments against passing the Senate bill. The law remains the law, and the President's constitutional obligation is to enforce it. I have to wonder how many of the panelists at this "immigration law and policy conference" represented an interest in anything other than circumventing the law of the land.

The latest from america

First-grade students finish an assignment at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Tucson, Ariz., in this 2014 photo. Arizona has one of the nation’s strongest school choice programs, with vouchers available to every child in the state. (CNS file photo/Nancy Wiechec)
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling denying state funds to a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. What should American Catholics be asking about public funding for school choice?
Beth BlaufussMay 23, 2025
Catholics should remember to build upon the growth we’ve experienced in Lent, both humanly and spiritually, throughout the Easter season
Jamie BaxterMay 23, 2025
Andor (Diego Luna) in Andor on Disney+ (©2024 Lucasfilm)
‘Andor’ is a piece of art that is both thrilling to watch and spiritually enriching.
A close-up of a young person holding an older person’s hands
When people face incurable illness, fear of the unknown is a major force that can drive their thinking. The task of physicians is to help calm people and correct their misunderstandings.