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Politico: President Obama’s passive aggressive immigration policy.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  June 16th, 2012 at 11:00 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

No, really, that’s how it was put:

President Barack Obama returned Friday to a trusted tactic — satisfying his political allies by not doing something.

Conservatives were angry when Janet Napolitano announced the administration would stop deporting certain undocumented immigrants, but they should have seen it coming. On issue after issue — gay rights, drug enforcement, Internet gambling, school achievement standards — the administration has chosen to achieve its goals by a method best described as passive-aggressive.


…and it’s pretty apropos, too. Kind of surprising of Politico to admit it, in fact. Mind you, Politico is just a bit too quick to pin Barack Obama’s problems on a divided Congress; as usual, the Beltway is trying its best to pretend that Barack Obama’s term of office started in January of 2011. There’s also the problem that Politico brought up Bush’s signing statements without also noting that Barack Obama readily broke a campaign promise* and started issuing his own. But at least Politico’s admitting that the President isn’t exactly showing leadership. Or resolution. Or even elementary courage, come to think of it. Admittedly, we already knew all of that, but it’s nice that other folks are owning up to knowing all of that, too.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: The phrase ‘Imperial Presidency’ was used to refer to Barack Obama in this article. In a non-ironic fashion. By a progressive. Who was willing to be quoted by name. Truly, the bloom is off of the rose.

*Barack Obama breaks a lot of promises. His word is not very good.

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  • http://www4.webng.com/rickbull/lostlucky/ rickbull

    that is all.

  • blooch

    this bureaucratic inaction as Obama being frugal with govt resources and taxpayer money. So we can trust him with another Stimulus. Smart Power and stuff.

  • grandma

    on the Supreme Court regarding SB 1070.

  • http://conservatisthandbook.blogspot.com cjd87

    Thats all he thinks about. Then again with the fierce opposition to Voter ID laws maybe he knows they were already illegally voting and knows he cant risk losing them

  • renl57

    Some Dems are jubilant that Obama didn’t let Rubio publicize his own proposal on immigration (possibly with the publicity of being Romney’s running mate). That might have attracted Hispanic votes to the GOP.

    This turns the tables on the GOP: If Romney picked Rubio as his running mate now after Obama’s announcement, many in the GOP base who oppose any such semi-amnesty actions wouldn’t approve of Rubio.

    So this makes it less likely that Rubio will be Romney’s running mate. (Having Rubio on the ticket would have helped Romney win FL.)

  • commonsenseobserver

    To present a comprehensive, legislative alternative, along the lines of Rubio’s, alongside tougher enforcement measures, while “gently” chiding Obama.

  • commonsenseobserver

    Simply write Rubio’s bill into the 2005 immigration enforcement one, which the Democrats flipped out over. It’d be even better if Mitt were the one proposing it instead of Congresisonal Republicans.

  • edintexas

    Or, as Acat might say – Purrfect.

  • renl57

    The editors of National Review Online oppose Rubio’s proposals–from the right.

    Plus the Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes Rubio’s proposals–from the left.

    We don’t need a platform fight over Rubio’s proposals at the GOP Convention.

  • johnms

    I’m hearing a lot of conventional wisdom that this move pushes Mitt Romney to select Marco Rubio as a running mate because that would be the only way for Mitt Romney to recapture some of the Hispanic vote that Barack Obama has “locked up” with this move.

    I don’t see it. The backlash against this policy change is going to be huge. The small number of votes that will flow to Barack Obama from this policy are going to be swamped by the huge number of people who are going to be angered by this move and turn away from Obama as a result.

    This policy may be so unpopular that it makes it virtually impossible for Mitt Romney to select Marco Rubio as a running mate, because what Obama did so closely tracks Rubio’s marquee policy proposal.

    Mitt Romney should not be too quick to jump on this bandwagon. He needs to sit back for a week or two and see what happens to Obama’s approval rating. I suspect it will take another 5 point drop. at which time it will become clear that this has become yet another foot-shooting disaster on the part of Barack Obama, hardly something that Mitt Romney needs to match or counter.

  • westcoastpatriette

    he does not keep. As noted in the Politico link you provided, Moe, in 2009, the DOJ announced they would not pursue for prosecution citizens in states that legalize medical marijuana. And yet, they are doing that very thing as we speak here in California — assisting local officials in shutting down medical marijuana clinics.

    Obama is losing credibility and even the agencies he is supposed to oversee are ignoring his decrees. It will be interesting to see just how many immigration enforcement agencies cooperate with Obama’s latest edict to them.

  • johnms

    You make a good point. If I were an illegal alien, I’d think long and hard about applying for one of these work permits. Think about it. You get no immunity, you have to self-identify to the Federal government as an illegal alien and provide personal information about yourself. You have an incumbent President who doesn’t keep his promises, and a possible incoming President who doesn’t support the policy.

    Who’s to say that this new “work permit” list doesn’t suddenly become a deportation list in the blink of an eye? Would you take that risk?

  • westcoastpatriette

    and no, I wouldn’t take that risk.

  • spinoneone

    or, “How we gonna get all these new workers off unemployment?” Just wait until the independents realize the impact of somewhere on the order of another million people just became eligible to work and therefore eligible for both welfare and unemployment checks. That’s at least another billion dollars per month in Federal spending, plus the portion the States have to pick-up.

    Oh, and, yeah, all of this after 0 told us in 2009 that he didn’t have the legal authority to do exactly this.

  • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

    “Holy cow – we’ve got to do something to protect our phoney-baloney jobs!”
    “Harumphs! (by almost everyone)”
    “Hey I didn’t get a harumph out of this guy!
    “Harumph…”
    etc etc

  • publiussteve

    Very disappointed that Romney refused to pledge on Face the Nation this morning to rescind Obama’s unlawful amnesty for 800,000+ illegal immigrants.

    As Jeff Sessions properly noted, Obama contravened our immigration laws, circumvented the will of the people, and implemented a mass amnesty not limited to children that has a completely unenforceable and unverifiable standard (i.e., will be competely fraud-ridden just like the 1986 IRCA amnesty).

    And don’t forget that Obama himself admitted recently he doesn’t have the authority to do this

    And this while Obama has already ceased most of the effective enforcement against illegals, the border is still far from secure per the GAO, and over 50% of young American grads are jobless or underemployed.

    And Romney won’t come out and take a strong stance against this?!

    Pathetic, and I’m sorry for supporting this weasel.

  • gekster

    go over to HuffPo where you will find plenty of friends.

    Romney doesn’t have to take a stand on this, as others in the party will.
    Go to his website and read up on his immigration stance there.

    And one other thing,
    Not voting for Romney will help Obama get re-elected, but I suspect you never did support Romney to begin with.

  • rightlane1111

    Look…my candidate did not make it. However, I will vote and I will vote for Romney. He didn’t do it your way…not right now. The candidate that I supported was polar opposite…BUT…and please think about this…I DO NOT WANT MARXIST IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

    OK…you stay home, we need your vote, Obama gets in…and he still gets his way…he gives away the jobs to the Hispanics and leaves us high and dry. Wouldn’t be the first time he threw someone to the curb. So…your solution DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

    Do you realize that if we all get mad enough…if there is enough chaos in this country…that Obama could just declare martial law…and suspend elections? Don’t think it will happen…think long and hard my friend…First Amendment going down, Second Amendment is now being attacked by some UN dictate…and how many rights have you lost compared to when he got it?

    Romney might not have said everything you wanted him to say…but OBAMA says EVERYTHING YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR.

  • publiussteve

    What a silly, uninformed comment.

    I guess I should join Jeff Sessions, Jim DeMint, Steve King, the editors of the National Review and other friends over at Huff Po who have harshly criticized this unlawful policy by Obama — a major shift in immigration policy.

    Charles Krauthammer is right when he calls this policy by Obama “out-and-out lawlessness.”

    If RINO Romney won’t take a stand on this now, which he should and must, what makes you think he’ll stand up for anything else.

  • standfast24

    This was a last ditch effort by Barry. He has pinned his hopes of increased enough Latino engagement to make up the decline from all other segments of his collation.
    I claim to have no idea who the top VP picks are for Romney and most of this is speculation.
    I do know that this gamble by Barry just reinforces the fact that he will do anything to stay in the WH and ignoring the constitution is not too high a price to pay – in his mind.

  • gekster

    to ge to his website and read up on his stance on immigration.
    Why should he say anything that the press will take out of context and distort. He’s been playing it smart up till now, and just because you think he should do something doesn’t make it right for him to do it.

    And you proved my point, the others are getting the dirt on thier hands, so no need for him to.

    (as far as silly uninformed comments, you havn’t been here too long, have you. and your comment isn’t silly or uninformed?)

  • standfast24

    You know this has been modeled, but do we really know how many votes this will attract ? Will this appeal to the legal Latino who know these people as friends and/or work with them.
    I suspect the Spanish language MSM will distort this to imply it’s much greater than it is – but to what effect ?

  • commonsenseobserver

    I think it’s an issue of style rather than substance people are more concerned about.

  • PaladinLostHour

    Publiussteve – Romney’s the *only* alternative to a train wreck second by BOGangsta Smooth. He’s IT. Your guy lost. My guy lost. Them’s the breaks. Instead of sitting around, trying to come up with synonyms for ‘weasel’ – get involved! Work to get Romney elected, and work the grassroots of the Republican party. Enough of us do that, and as January 21, 2013, Romney either drops the default, lazy pragmatism and pays heed to the *conservative* position – or he’s going to have a very miserable single term, before he’s replaced by a real conservative.

    Gekster – there’s a difference between supporting Romney and blindly supporting Romney. This is a major fail point on his part, for a *LARGE* part of the base =- he’s refused to answer whether or not he’d let stand a *clearly* unconstitutional action that, on its face, could destroy the balance of powers between the branches. Advising folks who voice those concerns to go to HuffPo is counterproductive at best, stupid at worst.

  • gekster

    Why should he say anything that the press will take out of context and distort.

  • commonsenseobserver

    If we pass the Sensenbrenner Bill, alongside the Rubio DREAM Act, which targets a narrow category of undocumented immigrants brought here through no fault of their own, it would represent a significant victory.

    By the way, I heard Sens. Cornyn and Hutchison of Texas were working on their own DREAM Act proposal. Is that true?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Protection,_Anti-terrorism,_and_Illegal_Immigration_Control_Act_of_2005

  • jaykali

    Romney doesn’t want to touch this with a 10 foot pole probably for good reason. I think it’s probably a political loser. You have to have a really nuanced argument to tread the line btwn being for legal immigration and against illegal immigration without pissing off a huge voting block.

  • jaykali

    Mitt I think tap danced around the issue today it sounds like which is probably smart for the time being.

  • checkmate2012

    adamently. I’m mad as hell & believe once again he’s has broken our laws. I know that they can give prosecutorial discretion on a case by case, but not a blanket policy that defies the immigration laws without a change in legislation. Bypassed Congress again.

    Plus, I just spent the better part of 2 hours listening to the Ben Ferguson radio show on WBAP in Dallas & was shocked by what many callers had to say, some illegals, some not. Everything from I worked my way to get citizenship and despise what O did & will vote for R, to you owe me b/c my cousin is in the military, to I just don’t want to be a citizen since Mexico is my country but don’t mind taking the bene’s, to just how many people that come here send at least 50% of taxfree earnings back to Mex., to even tho’ I married a girl from the U.S. in Mex. City, it took him 10 years to decide if he even wanted to become a citizen, to a women in construction that drives from LA to MS as she can’t get a job there, to the worst of all, “I’m here illegally, drive a truck, no I don’t want to be an American and you people use the wrong word, you should say a U.S. citizen since an American can be from Brazil, etc. and no I don’t have any desire to become eliglible to work or b/c a citizen since you took our land and I’m here on my land that you took!” Ok, probably not exactly verbatim but you get the point.

    So this unilateral decision to pander for votes is shameless & puts a strain on our jobs, welfare bene’s, college entrance quotas without so much as asking an applicant what their motives for being here are to send the bucks home or desire for citizenship. I’m appalled just when I thought he couldn’t top his lawlessness.

    Phew, got that off my chest! Oh lastly, he had to upstage Rubio’s speech & book tour next week.

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