It's been clear for the past several weeks that President Obama was giving consideration to the idea of walking back his earlier, self-imposed deadline of early fall to enact administrative relief for immigrants and our over-burdened immigration system. Today, however, consideration gave way to action--or inaction, if you will. The response from immigration advocates was, for the most part, as understandable as it was unsurprising: outrage and a sense of betrayal, culminating in threats to make Obama and congressional Democrats pay at the polls.
But what would that accomplish? Democrats and their allies have stayed home before, and all that does is elect more Republicans to Congress (or the White House, for that matter). And, in turn, all that does is set back the interests of progressives and their allies even further, sometimes for decades. Remember 2010, when folks sat at home over getting something less than the public option in health care reform? That election gave us the current Tea Party tyranny. For that matter, remember 1994, when folks sat at home over not getting any health care reform at all? That give us the Age of Newt, and set the politics of reform back for almost a generation.
One of Barack Obama's most real strengths is looking at the bigger picture. He is the son of an immigrant, as well as the child of a biracial marriage. No one--and I mean absolutely no one--should have any reason to doubt that the issue of immigration is as real and as personal to him as health reform is. But he would be betraying his commitment to immigrants if he made any move that did not reflect the complexity of the issue and its position in American life. After all, immigration advocates (including myself) argue again and again that the need for a comprehensive approach to the issue is based in no small part on that complexity.
It is perfectly clear from the President's own words that he is worried about taking a burning political issue and pouring Napalm on it with his own actions, at the start of a hotly contested political season. And too, the issue here is timing. By waiting until after the election, regardless of whether or not Democrats hold the Senate, he will be in a better position to act. There will no longer be a chance by his opponents to use the issue as a referendum on him. If the Democrats hold the Senate, Obama will have more political leverage to finally enact a legislative solution, something we all want. On the other hand, if the Republicans control Congress, he can then legitimately say that he needs to act on his own--and I believe that he will.
And it is utterly foolish, in any case, to expect any President not to heed political concerns expressed during an election season by members of his own party. Presidents are party as well as governmental officials: without support from within his own party, a President is doomed to failure. Just ask Jimmy Carter, the last President we had who acted on what he believed, come hell or high water. I supported Carter with my vote twice, but even he will admit that he was undermined by the lack of support from within his own party--especially Tip O'Neill, who (as we all know) preferred knocking a few back with Reagan.
But none of this should discourage or dissuade immigration advocates from anger. It should only serve to guide them into channeling their anger into productive channels. What do I mean? Simply this. Contact the White House. Contact Democrats in Congress. Tell the President that you'll wait two months, but, after that, you expect him to go as big as possible. Hold nothing back. Even if that means giving temporary protective status to nearly all of the 12 million undocumented among us, do it. And tell his congressional allies (yes, even the ones in red states) that you'll only continue to support them in future elections if they get back on the stick and push comprehensive immigration reform across the finish line once and for all.
We can't sit this out, especially the lawyers amongst us. Our clients need us. Immigrants need us. American needs us, whether it realizes it yet or not. Nothing worth doing is easy. Nothing is more worth sacrifice than going the extra mile to end the human rights crisis in our midst. Give the President the extra time he wants. But don't give up telling him that, ultimately, the wait should be well worth it.
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