White
House officials say that Obama, who was in Las Vegas, Nev., on Friday to
officially sign the executive order that implements his reforms at an area high
school with a high percentage of Latino students, then plans to travel to
Chicago.
HE’S
GOING TO have Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., with him, which is good because
Gutierrez has been outspoken on this issue for years. With Luis at his side, it
will be less likely that activist-types will be inclined to question Obama
about what took him so long to act on the immigration issue.
Officials
aren’t offering much in the way of specifics; other than saying it will happen
on Tuesday. We don’t know who he’s talking to, or what exactly he plans to say.
Only
that he’s trying to talk up immigration reform – he’s likely to be making
appearances all across the country to try to convince the apathetic amongst us
that this is a long-overdue move.
Not
that there’s going to be any swaying of the ideologue-inspired. The people who
have opposed any serious revision to national immigration policy are going to
be so hard-core in opposition that they’re spouting out a line of rhetoric
meant to spin the public into believing that Obama’s immigration reform goals
border on criminal and that everybody ought to share their hatred!
WHICH
IS THE only reason Obama feels a need to go public with trying to sway the
population about the proprietary nature of his immigration proposal.
There’s
no practical reason he ought to do anything.
After
all, everything Obama proposed this week in the way of making it possible for
just under half of the estimated 11 million non-citizens living in this country
without a valid visa is now in place.
The
point of executive orders is that they take effect immediately upon the
president’s decision – and remain until a future president chooses to repeal
them.
YOU
JUST KNOW that at least one (if not more) of the Republican candidates seeking the
party’s nomination for president in 2016 will campaign actively and openly on
the promise that his first act upon being elected will be to repeal the Obama immigration
reform order.
By
going out publicly to explain his order in great detail, Obama ensures that a
significant segment of the electorate will realize that candidate (whoever he
turns out to be) is merely spouting off rhetorical nonsense – rather than
saying anything that ought to be taken seriously. Even though some are going to
argue that he did things backward by seeking support after acting.
So
will the Obama immigration policy tour achieve that goal? Or is he merely going
to manage to tick off the ideologues even more than they already are with
anything Obama has done since he had the nerve (in their minds) to even run for
president?
If
it comes across like I see this as a purely partisan fight with no real policy
implications, you’d be correct. This is one of those issues where most people
already have made up their minds, and the presidential opponents are trying to
dominate the debate.
IT
ALMOST REMINDS me of that baseball cliché about the true significance of a
manager to the team – that he’s there to keep the five guys on the team who
hate the manager from convincing everybody else on the team that their right
about him.
So
come Tuesday, and possibly in the days leading up to and after it, we’re going
to hear more about this issue. Immigration reform is still long-overdue. There
are still individuals in our society forced into the shadows because only a
revamp approved by Congress and the president working together would resolve
their situation.
For
those who think it appropriate that Obama gave his approval of an executive
order in Las Vegas because he’s gambling the country won’t turn on him, I’d
argue that the gamble would have been if he thought he could get away without
doing anything on the issue.
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