In one dramatic speech President Obama has brought an end to the years of debate over immigration reform. Republicans may not like his use of an Executive Order and his opponents on the state and federal level are already preparing to challenge Obama in court.
But, for God’s sake, it was time that someone took action.
In what has been called “the most sweeping executive action on immigration in three decades,” the Executive Order will impact an estimated 4.1 million undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and about 300,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children.
Untold numbers of men, women and children living as “illegals” here on Long Island, will feel the impact of this action. Finally they will be able to live their lives without fear of deportation.
First these undocumented immigrants will have to sign up to get their temporary legal status. They have every reason to do this. As we understand it, the order will mean not worrying about the knock at the door. It will also mean that, for the first time, their numbers will be counted.
The members of Congress can whine until hell freezes over but the fact is that for years they failed to pass legislation regarding immigration reform. And when the Senate did pass a bipartisan bill with 68 votes more than 500 days ago, Republican House Speaker John Boehner refused to bring that bill – or any other – to the House floor. They dropped the ball and if they don’t like what President Obama did they can pass a bill of their own. Just don’t hold your breath waiting.
What Obama has done is good for the immigrants and good for America. And it is good for Nassau County.
Standing in the East Room of the White House, Obama denied his order amounted to amnesty. “Amnesty is the immigration system we have today – millions of people who live here without paying their taxes or playing by the rules, while politicians use the issue to scare people and whip up votes at election time,” he said. “That’s the real amnesty – leaving this broken system the way it is. What I’m describing is accountability.”
The challenge for local officials is to estimate the impact of this action on Nassau County.
For the first time it may be possible to get accurate numbers on how many undocumented immigrants are living here. The truth is that, at the moment, they have no idea.
We do know that thousands of “illegal aliens” have been working here at off-the-books jobs. They work at virtually every company providing lawn care, landscaping and construction, among other jobs.
At the moment, they work without benefits, including healthcare, and they don’t pay taxes.
Because they have been living in fear of deportation, the undocumented workers have had no way to pay for medical care. They don’t see a doctor until they show up in the emergency room at one of our hospitals. This has been a very expensive way to provide medical care.
Some of the undocumented children are already attending the public schools. With the fear removed, parents will be more likely to send their children to school.
The county needs to create an accurate estimate of the financial impact of the executive order.
We applaud the president for taking this courageous stand.
Until the evening of Nov. 20, the nation had three possible choices when it came to immigration reform: It could have ordered mass deportations without concern for the practical challenge in doing this and the tremendous human suffering it would have caused. It could have continued to debate the issue while the Tea Party and far-right radio hosts pontificated endlessly about the constitution and the law – while everyone was left in the dark.
Or, in what may become the signature moment of his administration, the president could say “enough,” and act with compassion and decisiveness.
The executive order will be coupled with decisive action on the Mexican border to keep new immigrants from being used to traffic narcotics, marijuana and illegal weapons. That’s important.
But finally someone stopped talking and did something.
