I hope President Obama says that his immigration measures are based in precedent by

[ChisolmTrailDem]

the similar actions taken by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush so I can watch rethug heads explode.

A boy can dream, can't he?

[Savannahmann]

1. So that's our plan?

To say, "But Mom, they're doing it too."

Seriously? That's all we've come up with?

[ChisolmTrailDem]

2. Won't know until tomorrow night. But Reagan and Bush policies granted some degree

of amnesty to up to 3 million people. Here you go: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025839572

I hope President Obama can call that and raise it substantially.

You missed the point of my musing.

[WillowTree]

3. Did they do it by Executive Order or did they just sign legislation from Congress?

Honest question. I don't know. Just asking.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

4. Yes...

From New Republic:

Indeed, presidents of both parties have tailored immigration policy to their own goals. In 1987, the Reagan administration took executive action to limit deportations for 200,000 Nicaraguan exiles, even those who had been turned down for asylum. Similarly, President George H.W. Bush in 1990 limited deportations of Chinese students and in 1991 kept hundreds of Kuwait citizens from being deported. President Bill Clinton regularly used his power of prosecutorial discretion to limit deportations; in 1993 he gave 18-month extensions to Salvadoran residents, in 1997 he limited deportations for Haitians, and in 1998 he limited deportations to Central American counties that had been devastated by hurricanes.

President George W. Bush also took major steps to limit deportations on humanitarian grounds. In 2001, he limited deportation of Salvadorian citizens at the request of the Salvadorian president who said that their remittances were a key part of their nation’s economy. The Bush administration embraced prosecutorial discretion and ordered the consideration of factors such as whether a mom was nursing a child or whether an undocumented person was a U.S. military veteran in making the determination on whether to order a deportation.

The Bush administration explicitly recognized that humanitarian factors must play into the deportation decision. The 2005 Howard memorandum issued by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stated that “Prosecutorial discretion is a very significant tool ...to deal with the difficult, complex and contradictory provisions of the immigration laws and cases involving human suffering and hardship.” Today, the Obama administration can build on that to stop deportations that separate parents from their children. The breaking up of families due to deportations undoubtedly causes human suffering and hardship: The Applied Research Center in its “Shattered Families” report found that over 5,000 children live in U.S. foster homes because their parents were deported.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120328/obama-immigration-executive-action-why-it-will-be-legal

[NCTraveler]

5. I was under the impression Regan did it by signing legislation. Guess I was wrong.

This is why du is great. Learn new things every day.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

6. Actually, it's not clear if you are wrong. Some of my info is by rote from sources I read

yesterday. I'm going back now to see how much of the 3 million I estimated above is by EO and may be by legislation.

Still, even if most of immigration reform then was a result of legislation, it's still Reagan and Bush legacy.

[NCTraveler]

7. Thanks for letting me know.

To me both Regan and Bush are insignificant in this. Both sides are going to use those names and in the end it will be a political wash. I am only talking about invoking those names when calling it a political wash. If what Obama plans to do is done in accordance with the constitution and its limits of the executive branch, I'm good. It needs to be done. I will come back to look as knowing the proper history is important when talking to friends about the issue.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

8. Ok, so here is the legislation (Wikipedia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Reform_and_Control_Act_of_1986

Here is some info on the executive actions taken:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5839609

So, it was a combination of executive action and legislation.

[NCTraveler]

9. Thanks for that. Going to look at them now. nt.

[napkinz]

10. BOOM: Two Republican Presidents Acted Without Congress to Grant Amnesty to Illegal Immigrants –

Last edited Wed Nov 19, 2014, 06:35 PM - Edit history (2)

ZERO Calls for Impeachment.

Bob Cull
November 19, 2014

Republicans in the House have refused to act on the immigration reform bill passed by the Senate in June of 2013, leading President Obama to announce that if they do not act soon he will use his authority to issue an executive order granting legal status to millions with family members who already have legal status. The outcry from the “family values” party has been deafening. Republican congressmen have called him “lawless” and accused him of “shredding the Constitution,” calling it an “unprecedented” usurpation of congressional authority. There have even been calls for impeachment if he acts unilaterally. But is it unprecedented? The answer is a resounding “no.” It was done by two of the previous three presidents with no one calling for impeachment.

In 1986, Congress passed and Ronald Reagan signed into law sweeping immigration reform which was immediately recognized as being flawed with provisions that would divide families, deporting some while members of the same family would be allowed to stay.

In 1987 when Congress failed to amend the law, Reagan acted through the INS to allow the minor children and spouses of those who were granted amnesty by the new law to stay in the country — and there was not one peep about impeachment or lawless behavior by the president.

In 1989 the Senate passed a measure that would have allowed those covered by the executive action to stay with an 81-17 vote and the House failed to act on it.

In February of 1990, President George H.W. Bush acting through the INS, granted “family fairness” which allowed up to 1.5 million family members of immigrants who benefited from the 1986 law to stay without fear of deportation and work in the U.S. Once again there was no uproar and in October of that year, Congress passed another immigration reform law making their status permanent.

read more: http://aattp.org/boom-two-republican-presidents-acted-without-congress-to-grant-amnesty-to-illegal-immigrants-zero-calls-for-impeachment/

[napkinz]

11. ...

[GoCubsGo]

12. He also needs to point out that Boehner refused to take up the bill that passed in the Senate.

And, it was bi-partisan. Let everyone know that those hypocritical fucks are the ones standing in the way of anything getting done.

[napkinz]

13. ...

[napkinz]

14. posted by kpete

see http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025843234

[ctaylors6]

15. So then why doesn't he give

the Rs until say February to pass an immigration bill like the 1986 one then use EOs to fix what he doesn't like then? Or if they don't pass anything by then, he can issue a more sweeping EO.

[napkinz]

16. ...