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>.