A few thoughts on Obama and Immigration
Republicans are howling that what the President did was political. Hell, anything a President does is political, because he is the nation's chief politicians.
But let's be clear about something.
The approximately 800,000 young people who will have a somewhat regularized status under this executive order will not be able to vote - they not only are not citizens, they are not under this plan yet legal residents. But they are allowed to have an ongoing status that allows them to come out of the shadows. There is no DIRECT political gain from them for the President.
Their families are, by definition, undocumented aliens. The adults who brought them here have not had their status changed. There is no DIRECT political gain from them for the President, since they cannot vote.
There is real gain in other ways - more students who can legally attend college; more talented young people who gain be productive members of the economy, earning real wages from which social security and medicare are
But let's be clear about something.
The approximately 800,000 young people who will have a somewhat regularized status under this executive order will not be able to vote - they not only are not citizens, they are not under this plan yet legal residents. But they are allowed to have an ongoing status that allows them to come out of the shadows. There is no DIRECT political gain from them for the President.
Their families are, by definition, undocumented aliens. The adults who brought them here have not had their status changed. There is no DIRECT political gain from them for the President, since they cannot vote.
There is real gain in other ways - more students who can legally attend college; more talented young people who gain be productive members of the economy, earning real wages from which social security and medicare are