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>.