17 States Suing Over Immigration Reform Policy

            After promising immigration reform consistently over the last 6 years, President Obama has finally kept his word. Unfortunately, the President was forced to act unilaterally to do everything in his power to begin to solve our nations broken immigration system. He has been praised by his supporters and fellow democrats but has been quickly criticized by republicans nationwide.

            With every great change made to our nation comes great controversy. Despite the fact that everyone intends to have the best interest in mind for our country, not everyone agrees on what those interests are. Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner came out and publically declared his anger towards the president for making this decision. He believes that the president has no right to act on his own and that he has acted beyond the means of his constitutional powers.

            It was publically announced today that Texas, along with 16 other states, have filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration for doing what they believe is unconstitutional. Their claims are loosely based on the idea that the president does not have the authority to act unilaterally on issues such as immigration. It is clearly a partisan gripe though because when President Bush decided to invade Iraq unilaterally he had an enormous amount of support from Republicans.

            Only time will tell what will come of all of this, but for now the President’s new policy will help dozens of families stay united and gain the legal citizenship they have sought out for years. It is important to remember JFK’s statement that this country was founded by immigrants. Without the ingenuity of immigrants our country would not be what it is today. It is the diversity of this nation that makes us strong and makes us a force to be reckoned with.

Montgomery, David, and Julia Preston. "Executive Action on Immigration Prompts Texas to Sue." The New York Times. The New York Times, 3 Dec. 2014. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/us/executive-action-on-immigration-prompts-texas-to-sue.html?ref=politics>.

Overcoming Inequality

            It was roughly a week ago that the controversial decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson was passed by the grand jury. The decision sparked widespread riots all over the nation led by angry citizens who felt that the justice system had not done its duty. The case involved the mentioned officer shooting and killing an unarmed teenage African American male. With a history of black oppression by American police forces, citizens were absolutely outraged by the announcement not indict Officer Wilson.

            With protests still occurring in Ferguson and in many other major U.S. cities, another announcement was made today. A grand jury in Staten Island decided not to indict the officer who accidentally killed an unarmed African American man by using a chokehold on him. There is a video of the incident occurring that clearly shows the police confront the unarmed man then proceed to throw him to the ground and use a choke hold while the man screamed he couldn’t breathe over 10 times.

            The man became unconscious at the scene and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. The video clearly shows the officer using much more force than necessary for confronting an unarmed man about illegally selling single cigarettes. It came as a surprise to many that the decision was made not to indict the officer. It is highly likely that this decision will incite some protesting possibly accompanied by rioting.

This marks another decision that will add to the alienation of African Americans. What little hope they had in the justice system will likely decrease even further. The decisions made in the recent weeks involving the Michael Brown case and now this one clearly present the hard fact that racism is very much still alive in this country. While our nation has come a long way since the 1950s, we still have a far ways to go before true equality is achieved.

Goodman, J., and Al Baker. "In Eric Garner Chokehold Case, Grand Jury Is Said Not to Charge N.Y.P.D. Officer." The New York Times. The New York Times, 3 Dec. 2014. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/nyregion/grand-jury-said-to-bring-no-charges-in-staten-island-chokehold-death-of-eric-garner.html?_r=0>.