Executive Action And Immigration Reform

With Guest Host Jessica Yellin.

The President is set push ahead alone on immigration reform.  The GOP says it’s 'gloves off' if he does.

The new Republican Congress hasn’t begun and already they’re girding for battle with President Obama — over immigration reform. The White House is poised to grant legal status to millions of immigrants through executive action. Democrats say it’s long overdue. Republicans say it’s illegal, and are threatening everything from a government shutdown to impeachment to stop it. The fate of millions hang in the balance. Big questions about justice, compassion, and border security.  This hour On Point, the looming showdown over immigration reform.
-- Jessica Yellin

Alan Gomez, immigration and Latin America reporter for USA Today. (@alangomez)

Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum. (@anoorani)

Rep. Charles Dent (R-PA), Congressman for Pennsylvania's 15th District. (@RepCharlieDent)

Jacob Vigdor, professor of public affairs at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs. (@jakevigdor)

Steven Schulman, immigration and asylum lawyer with the Washington law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. (@probonodude)

USA Today: Obama considers plan to delay deportation for millions — "President Obama is considering an executive order that would prevent as many as 5 million people from being deported, administration officials said Thursday. But the officials — speaking on condition of anonymity, citing internal deliberations — said the details of the immigration plan are still being developed and called reports of specific action 'pre-decisional.'"

New York Times: By Using Executive Order on Immigration, Obama Would Reverse Long-Held Stance — "For years, the president has repeatedly waved aside the demands of Latino activists and Democratic allies who begged him to take action on his own, and he insisted publicly that a decision to shield millions of immigrants from deportation without an act of Congress would amount to nothing less than the dictates of a king, not a president."

POLITICO: Senate Dems to Obama: We’re with you on immigration — "The Democrats argued that Obama was well within his legal bounds to act unilaterally on immigration – the main point of contention from Republican lawmakers. For instance, they pointed to how Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush instituted a so-called 'Family Fairness' policy that stopped deportations for 1.5 million family members of immigrants who were legalized under the 1986 immigration law."