President Barack Obama will speak at Del Sol High School today to bolster support for the executive order he signed yesterday to change US immigration policy. The president’s action will offer temporary protection for some millions undocumented immigrants living in the US.
In his speech last night, President Obama said that his executive order will temporarily protect some undocumented immigrants from being separated from their families.
“If you’ve been in America for more than five years, if you have children who are American citizens or legal residents…you'll be able to apply to stay in this country without fear of deportation.” The President said.
But there were one group of undocumented immigrants who were not protected by the President’s executive order last night.
“(The President's) legal team concluded that he did not have the necessary authority to offer that same kind of relief to the parents of Dreamers," White House press secretary Josh Earnest, told KNPR.
Dreamers are the young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children. The President protected these so-called Dreamers in an executive order he issued two years ago. And many policy experts expected that the parents of Dreamers would gain protection under the President latest action.
But according to the White House, this is where the President’s authority hits a wall.
"Unless we change the law, (Dreamers) aren't on a path to citizenship," Said Earnest. "Which means they would be in a position to petition for their parents to get legal status.”
Which means the fate of the parents of so-called Dreamers remains in the hands of Congress. And the White House blames House Republicans for stalling action on comprehensive immigration legislation already passed by the US Senate.
This bipartisan proposal that passed the Senate in the summer of 2013 is something that House Republicans have now been blocking for more than 500 days," said Earnest. "They've been blocking that bill because they know that if it comes up for a vote in the House of Representatives, it will pass."
So will we hear anything new today in Las Vegas when the president address a crowd at Del Sol High School?
“I think you’ll hear a bit more from the President about his commitment to implement these executive actions as quickly as possible," said Earnest. "And we do anticipate it will take two or three months to implement all of this. But even after it is implemented, the President is going to continue to challenge Congress to move the ball forward."
But starting next year, the President will likely have even less sway over Congress than he does now, when Republicans take control of the US Senate.
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