Thursday, July 31, 2014

Obama immigration executive orders could force showdown

Reports that President Barack Obama could use executive orders to enact immigration policies could force a showdown with Republicans with broad constitutional implications.
Stories from the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and  Politico indicate that the White House is considering using executive orders, a tactic already heavily criticized by Republican leaders, to defer some deportations and expand work permits to currently illegal immigrants.
With House Republicans already set to sue President Obama in federal court over what are seen as executive abuses of power over the Affordable Care Act, such aggressive actions from the White House wouldn’t go unchallenged.
But the big question is how would the GOP challenge immigration reforms through executive orders on constitutional grounds?
Josh Gerstein from Politico went over some of the legal roadblocks to a GOP challenge in an extensive story on Tuesday.
“Legal experts see any challenge to the expected immigration policy changes headed for the same key roadblock facing House Speaker John Boehner’s planned suit over Obamacare implementation delays: finding a way to show the injury needed to press a case in the federal courts,” said Gerstein.

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