Executive Overreach on Immigration

Recently, the United States Supreme Court has announced that they will soon be hearing a case related to the constitutionality of the executive order President Obama previously issued regarding immigration. The order allowed easier access to work permits and quasi-legal status to about five million illegal immigrants. Many of those who will be covered by the executive order are immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, as well as those who are now parents to U.S. citizens or green card holders.

In addition to this executive order, Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012, which would likely be destroyed if the court were to rule against him. With the arguments coming so close to the end of his presidency, if the court were to rule in his favor his administration would have an extremely short six or seven month period of time left in his term to register immigrants and to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and the Deferred Action for Parents program.

SCOTUS has agreed to hear the cases after 26 states have made claims that they would be harmed by the executive action.

Whether or not this executive order is beneficial to illegal immigration—as it appears to be—it was an outlandish use of federal power, and the fact that it is detrimental to a slight majority of the states in our country makes it apparent that this is the exact type of legislature that should be passed through Congress.

President Obama is not the first, and will not be the last, president who abuses the power of the executive order; however, his orders have been some of the strangest and most extensive misuse of presidential power in recent years. Many have called Obama’s legacy one of executive overreach.

Of course, executive orders have a purpose as many cite the emancipation proclamation. However, President Obama’s executive orders have been used in ways that we haven’t seen from previous presidents. Many of his orders have been used to alter his own previously passed legislation-pieces of legislature that had already passed through a bipartisan congress.

I have multiple problems with the concept of executive orders. It seems to contradict the very foundation of our government system. The main problem I have with the executive actions of President Obama is that many are used to pass legislature on extremely partisan issues such as gun control and illegal immigration. It is a shame that Obama’s immigration plan has had negative results in 26 states because it is such an important issue that affects the lives of millions of immigrants and their children. Although this challenge by the Supreme Court feels like an avoidable loss for immigrants hoping to become citizens, it is truly the fault of the administration for failing to create bipartisan immigration-legislature with congress that would have a lasting impact on the lives of immigrant families. Although I’m sure the executive orders were set out to make a difference in the lives of these immigrants, the Supreme Court will have to decide whether or not this abuse of presidential power bypassed Congress to the point of having a detrimental impact on individual states.