By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times - Tuesday, December 9, 2014

President Obama insisted Tuesday that his successor won't take the political risk that would come with reversing his recent executive action on immigration reform.

Speaking at a town-hall meeting in Nashville, the president said it's "theoretically" possible that the next administration could undo the amnesty Mr. Obama has granted to more than 4 million illegal immigrants, but he assured a supportive crowd that such a step it is extremely unlikely.

"It's true a future administration might try to reverse some of our policies. But I'll be honest with you — the American people basically have a good heart and want to treat people fairly and every survey shows that if, in fact, somebody has come out and subjected themselves to a background check, registered, paid their taxes, the American people support allowing them to stay. So any future administration that tried to punish people for doing the right thing, I think, would not have the support of the American people," Mr. Obama said. "It's true, theoretically, a future administration could do something that I think would be very damaging. It's not likely, politically, that they reverse everything we've done."

Last month, the president unveiled long-awaited executive action on immigration reform. He granted de facto amnesty to more than 4 million illegal immigrants, freeing them from the threat of deportation and allowing them to legally compete for jobs.

The move sparked a major backlash on Capitol Hill and in states across the country; at least 18 states are suing the president over his steps on immigration.

Republican lawmakers argue the executive action puts law-abiding Americans at a disadvantage.

"America's workforce participation rate sits at a 36-year low due to the Obama economy. More than 90 million Americans are out of work, so it is unfair to Tennessee families that this president wants to force hard-working taxpayers to compete for jobs with illegal aliens to whom he is unilaterally granting work permits," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican. "In addition, what is the president's response to those immigrants who have been lawfully waiting in line for years to become citizens? Is that consistent with the societal "fairness" of which he so often speaks?"

Mr. Obama brushed off that criticism Tuesday and said the concerns raised by Ms. Blackburn and others already have been proven wrong.

"I understand those concerns, but as I said, they're not new. We've had these concerns since the Irish and Italians and Poles were coming to Boston and New York," he said. "But what our history and the facts show is, generation after generation, immigrate have been a net plus to our economy and a net plus to our society."

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