President Obama has finally taken executive action on immigration reform in light of the House's inability to get anything done. The
action is essentially an extension of deferred action to adults who have been in the US over 5 years and have children who are legal residents or citizens. As soon as the White House announced the president was preparing to present his action, conservative Republicans began throwing their usual fits about Obama overstepping executive power. However, also unsurprisingly, Republicans are being complete hypocrites. As has now been pointed out in several outlets, conservatives' ultimate hero, Ronald Reagan, also took
executive action on immigration reform. So did George Bush Sr.
But blatant hypocrisy and a lack of any viable alternative have never stopped Republicans in the past.
Since Obama announced his action in a speech on Thursday, Republicans have floundered as they try to figure out their response. Boehner told Obama that he was “damaging the presidency itself” by acting unilaterally on immigration. Predictably, others have threatened lawsuits and impeachment attempts. But if you follow this logic, should Reagan have been impeached for taking unilateral action on immigration as well? Should Bush? The mere suggestion that Reagan should have been impeached may offend Republicans even more than giving healthcare to poor people (which is saying a lot).
Deep down they must know that Obama was right when he said that, "mass deportation would be both impossible and contrary to our character." The fact that it is completely impractical to deport 11 million people is hard to refute. This means that the only real options when it comes to immigration policy are allowing undocumented immigrants to continue living in the shadows (what I suspect Republicans really want) or providing a path to legal residency.
So what can Republicans do? It is seemingly against their principals to actually pass any laws, and doing something to extend rights to an oppressed group most definitely is. Criticizing old Ronnie or anything he did is completely out of the question.
The only legitimate way I can see for Republicans to counter Obama's action is (as he said) to pass a bill. But that would require the House to actually do something.
On the surface, it seems like Republicans are in a bind--they can't criticize Obama too much for something Reagan did, and they have failed to pass an immigration bill themselves. But this would be overlooking the Republican penchant for duplicity. If there is anything Republicans are good at, it is rejecting the facts right in front of their noses. Conservative blowhards such as Rush Limbaugh have already begun denying the truth with their usual lies and fear-mongering, so the rest of the party can't be far behind.