Thread: OUR VIEW: Plan would allow ‘illegals' to stay (with Poll)

gazette.com
Opinion
WAYNE LAUGESEN
January 07, 2012 8:16 AM

FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD

President Barack Obama’s fourth year in office will represent the 12th consecutive year that Americans have lived under hawkish, big-government progressive leadership from the White House. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Obama isn’t much different than George W. Bush.

On immigration, a majority of Republicans should prefer Obama to Bush. Since 2009, the Obama administration deported illegal immigrants at a rate that doubled the Bush administration’s most aggressive deportation drives. Progressives and socialists like to control the workforce and the freedom to roam, so aggressive immigration policy comes naturally.

Hardworking, taxpaying families with immigration problems can take comfort in the fact that 2012 is an election year, and Obama’s support from Hispanics has suffered under his hyper-aggressive deportation program. Nearly
1 million immigrants have been sent packing in the past two years. A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center found that nearly 60 percent of Latinos disapprove of the president’s approach to deporting illegal immigrants.

In an effort to win their support, Obama plans to adjust a policy that has ripped families apart and has kept “illegals” from getting legal.

As policy stands, an illegal immigrant who wants to get legal must leave the country to apply for a green card. Some are barred from returning for up to 10 years. This keeps people who desire to comply with the law from doing so, as getting separated from loved ones and work for up to 10 years can serve as an unthinkable process that would victimize innocent children by depriving them of a parent.

The Obama administration on Friday announced a proposed regulatory change that would allow noncriminal illegal immigrants to remain in the United States while applying for legal status. The change would guarantee that more illegal immigrants take steps to comply with the law. It also means that children and spouses of non-criminal illegal immigrants won’t be left in a lurch as a parent/spouse goes away for years to obtain permission to reside in the United States.

This is a positive move from an administration that has, until now, indulged a ham-fisted and socialistic approach to immigration that was many times more oppressive than anything embarked upon by our last three Republican presidents. It should please those activists who say their only concern involves the residency status of illegal immigrants. If we facilitate “illegals” in becoming “legal,” the problem of illegality subsides. Everyone wins.

Do you support Obama's plan to help illegal immigrants obtain legal status? Vote in poll to the right. Must vote to see results.

The proposed change should mostly please those who understand the crucial role illegal immigrants play in funding government, producing wealth and consuming goods and services.

While this proposal is good, let’s not forget that Obama has deported immigrants faster than any president in history. A sudden change of heart, 11 months before the presidential election, doesn’t mean Obama has a new understanding of the contributions illegal immigrants make to our country. It means he wants the Latino vote.

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/bara...#ixzz1invRLD6r

Do you support Obama's plan to help illegal immigrants obtain legal status?

Yes 22%

No 78%

Total Votes: 65

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/bara...#ixzz1invi8jGc

Do you support Obama's plan to help illegal immigrants obtain legal status? [TR]
[TD="class: pollanswers"]Yes

21%

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: pollanswers"]No

79%

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: polltotal"]Total Votes: 66 [/TD]
[/TR]


Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/bara...#ixzz1inzaiwhx

YOUR VIEWPoll ResultsDo you support Obama's plan to help illegal immigrants obtain legal status? Yes

21%

No

79%

Total Votes: 67

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/bara...#ixzz1io0vLW4H

Do you support Obama's plan to help illegal immigrants obtain legal status?

Yes 19%

No 81%

Total votes: 84