As the news spread that President Obama would delay his far-reaching executive order, pro-amnesty leaders and activists started ripping into the political move by the White House calling it a “betrayal” and a “slap to the face.”
Cristina Jimenez, director of United We Dream, an organization that’s top priority is now getting amnesty for non-DREAMers, had this to say to The Hill:
"To wait nine more weeks means that I must again look my mother in the eye and see the fear she has about living under the threat of deportation every day.”
The worries these activists have do not seem sincere when one looks at the numbers. The Pew Research Center just released a stunning study that directly contradicts this narrative.
If this Administration or the prior one instilled so much fear by deporting illegal aliens, then how do you explain that the overwhelming majority- 83%- has lived and worked in the US for at least a decade? That's over 8 million people who the Administration has promised time and time again it will do whatever it can to let them stay forever. Including but not limited to: prosecutorial discretion, deferred action, and the abolishment of US immigration enforcement practices.
Only 15% of illegal aliens in the country today have been here for less than 5 years. That figure was 38% in 2000. 62% have been here for at least 10 years compared to 35% in 2000. A whopping 21% have been here for at least 20 years.
The president defended the delay in an interview with Chuck Todd over the weekend. "The truth of the matter is that the politics did shift midsummer because of [the border surge]."
Never mind that the President’s favorite line when pushing comprehensive reform was to put "principles over politics"…
Or that he had two years to pass a comprehensive reform package when the Democrats controlled both the House and Senate but chose instead to wait and use immigration as a political football…
Don’t get me wrong- I am pleased that the White House has chosen to delay an order that will harm American workers. I hope in this 9 week span of time that some of the 18 million American workers living in fear of poverty and unemployment will find relief through full time work.
The fact that our President is waiting on this only to avoid reaction from the American voters should infuriate everyone- Republicans and Democrats alike. Instead of acting on principle and letting voters decide if they agree with you on that principle, he has chosen to leave us out of the discussion because he already knows where we stand. If there’s any betrayal here, it’s against the American electorate.
Pro-amnesty groups have promised to not forget this move by the President and neither should you. As Frank Sharry put it: “We advocates didn’t make the reform promise; we just made the mistake of believing it.” As did the millions of unemployed Americans who voted for the President in 2008 and 2012 hoping he would help them.
With all sides going after the President this fall on immigration, it seems he is backed into a corner and must pick who to stand with. We now have a couple of months to persuade him to strongly stand for American workers.
MELANIE OUBRE IS THE LOCAL ACTIVISM COORDINATOR FOR NUMBERSUSA
