Well, according to a well-known Latino advocacy group our Commander-in-Chief President Barack Obama is the “Deporter-in-Chief” due to his administration’s high deportation rate.
The head of the National Council of La Raza, Janet Murguia has bestowed President Obama the new nickname because of the deportation of nearly 2 million immigrants.
The nickname was given by Murguia in comments she made at an awards dinner held on Tuesday.
“For us, this president has been the deporter-in-chief,” said Murguia, “Any day now, this administration will reach the 2 million mark for deportations. It is a staggering number that far outstrips any of his predecessors and leaves behind it a wake of devastation for families across America.”
From the start of his presidency the Immigration and Customs Enforcement has removed an estimated 2 million immigrants from the U.S. The estimation gathered since President Obama took office tops the prior presidencies of President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton.
While the reason of the high deportation may be due in part to this country’s venture into the aggressive enforcement of the current immigration law, another reason behind the deportation may be due to political fighting amongst the parties.
Although advocates for the immigration reform criticize President Obama, the president also faces criticism from the right. Among the Republican Party, President Obama is viewed as being far too laidback when it comes to dealing with the immigrant community; a community that stands about 11 million people.
At the start of last summer there was some hope to reform the immigration law after President Obama made an announcement 1 year ago about pushing for a new comprehensive immigration bill, but plans for the changes came to halt due to the House of Republicans.
The House Republicans decided to stall on the immigration legislation eight months after the Senate passed the updated comprehensive immigration bill due to members of the GOP finding the bill lacking in security and a belief that the president wouldn’t be able to enact such a bill.
At the same award dinner Murguia attended, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey—one of the eight Republicans and Democrats who crafted the new bill—spoke out against the rise in deportation numbers and asked President Obama to halt on the deportations until the matter on moving forward with the bill is addressed.
“While we continue waiting for the House of Representatives to wake up and move on immigration reform legislation, I urge the president to take action today and halt needless deportations that are splitting apart our families and communities,” said, Menendez, hoping to prevent the deportation of immigrant relatives of legal U.S. citizens which also threatens the breaking up of families. “The current deportation apparatus is an outrage and it’s a tragedy.”
While angry with the president, Murguia also addressed the House of GOP in their role on not pushing the immigration legislation forward. In fact, the anger towards Obama may have been stirred by a suggestion made by Senator Chuck Schumer four weeks ago about delaying the push for the comprehensive immigration bill until after President Obama leaves office.
“You have had more than enough time to come up with legislation to move reform forward. It is time to stop the political gamesmanship,” said Murguia, hinting to how the House of GOP leaders originally unveiled their personal values to be placed upon the reform in January yet splits within the house resulted in the overall halt of the bill moving forward due the fear of public backlash when elections come back up.
On Thursday at town hall style meeting in Washington, President Barack Obama responded to his nickname as the “Deporter-in-Chief and tried to explain why the deportation numbers were so high.
“I am constrained in terms of what I am able to do. The reason why these deportations are taking place is that Congress said ‘you have to enforce these laws’,” explained Obama, “I cannot ignore those laws any more than I can ignore any of the other laws that are on the books.”
President Obama declared he has no power of the deportation in this country because it was required of him, by Congress, to enforce the current immigration law which exist; laws that currently exist because the new, comprehensive bill that would protect and offer illegal immigrants a path to citizenship is still in limbo.
Observant of the rising number of deportation, President Obama acknowledged it is an issue and one that he wants to address which is why he wants the comprehensive bill passed through the House of Republican.
It is because of his support for the bill that the president has countered to his nickname and stated that, ““I am the champion in chief of comprehensive immigration reform.”
Whether you agree with Murguia or President Obama one thing should be made clear, the infighting within the House of Republicans and other Parties is what keeps this bill from moving forward. Because of political ambition and values, the interest of the vast American population are being ignored or played with it.
The one way this problem can be addressed is by knowing who you select to cast your vote for when you go into the voting booth. And, if you happen to disagree with whom you voted for then air out your grievance by making contact by phone or email.
The lives of millions of families hang in the balance due to the citizen status of a father or mother, son or daughter, uncle or aunt, and so on because there are political figures who do not see those families but see their own ambition or interest at heart.
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