President Obama’s tenure has had a record number of deportations so far, but he announced last week that he is doing all he can to slow the rate of deportations and prevent the separation of families. Congress is worried that the President is overstepping his executive powers by creating executive orders and creating policies that they cannot oversee and vote on.
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The White House reported that the President and Homeland Security Chief have met in order to discuss a more humane way to approach deportations. Over 2 million people have been removed so far only under President Obama’s term and he plans to reduce these numbers. House Speaker Boehner and other lawmakers want the president to allow them to make legislation or at least look over bills about immigration before the president executes them. "There's no doubt we have an immigration system that is failing families and our economy, but until it is reformed through the democratic process, the president is obligated to enforce the laws we have," said Speaker Boehner’s spokesperson.
Despite disagreements over the separation of powers, the president has stated he has stretched his executive powers to the max and will probably not be able to do much more without overreaching his powers. Even his supporters call him “Deporter in Chief” and believe he could do much more to help their situation. Immigration activists are frustrated with Congress and are done waiting for a month’s long decision in the making.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez commented on the situation saying,” It is clear that the pleas from the community go through to the president.” Unfortunately, no one knows how the president will proceed from here or if he has any other authority to help ease the burden of living undocumented. Meanwhile, immigrants without proper documentation are urged to go to a trusted immigration attorney to help maneuver through the current immigration system and any changing immigration laws.
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