NOTE TO STUDENTS: This is a controversial issue for many Americans. Be polite to those with whom you disagree when discussing these types of issues and always give the other person a chance to explain his/her point of view. Also, learn how to recognize when it is no longer productive to discuss an issue on which you strongly disagree.

1. Various news reports state that President Obama will sign executive orders; others refer to them as executive actions.   The terms executive action and executive order are not interchangeable.
a) What is an executive order? Be specific.
b) What is an executive action?

2. What executive orders will President Obama give on the millions of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally?

3. Why is President Obama essentially giving millions of illegal immigrants amnesty by executive order?

4. President Obama had promised he would use executive orders on immigration by the end of the summer. Why did he wait until the middle of November?

5. a) How did Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner’s spokesman refer to President Obama in relation to this announcement?
b) Read the “Background” and check out the “Resources” below. What do you think of the spokesman’s assertion? Is it fair or out of line? Explain your answer.

6. Consider what President Obama said, in his own words:

October 2010: In an interview on Univision:

“My cabinet has been working very hard on trying to get it done, but ultimately, I think somebody said the other day, I am president, I am not king,” Obama told Univision in October 2010, when asked why he had yet to achieve comprehensive immigration reform.

March 2011: Remarks by the President Univision Townhall:
(see the video below under "Resources")

"America is a nation of laws, which means I, as the President, am obligated to enforce the law. I don't have a choice about that. That's part of my job. But I can advocate for changes in the law so that we have a country that is both respectful of the law but also continues to be a great nation of immigrants. … With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed …. [W]e’ve got three branches of government. Congress passes the law. The executive branch’s job is to enforce and implement those laws. And then the judiciary has to interpret the laws. There are enough laws on the books by Congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system that for me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as President.”

“I swore an oath to uphold the laws on the books …. Now, I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own. Believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting. I promise you. Not just on immigration reform. But that's not how our system works. That’s not how our democracy functions. That's not how our Constitution is written.”

January 2013: Pres. Obama Defends Deportation Record:

“I’m not a king. My job as the head of the executive branch ultimately is to carry out the law,” Obama told Telemundo. “When it comes to enforcement of our immigration laws, we’ve got some discretion. We can prioritize what we do. But we can’t simply ignore the law.”

Do you think these remarks contradict President Obama’s actions announced on Thursday? Explain your answer.

7. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, is the Senate Republican Whip, and the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security. In a Nov. 20 commentary he wrote:

Though the president promised he would tackle immigration reform with Congress during his first year in office, his record has instead been a series of empty promises and unilateral policy changes that have produced disastrous results. Because of his decisions to bypass the legislative branch and the rule of law, we have seen thousands of deportable criminals, including many with violent records, released from immigration detention. We also saw a genuine humanitarian crisis unfold along our southern border, as tens of thousands of Central American minors — motivated at least in part by President Obama’s non-enforcement of U.S. immigration law — made a treacherous journey in order to cross illegally into the United States.

The likely results of President Obama’s unilateral action are all too predictable. A new amnesty program would send an even louder message to the world that the United States does not enforce its laws. It would prompt more people in Central America to pay smugglers, human traffickers, and drug cartels for transportation through Mexico. It would also harm legal immigration by pushing those who have followed the rules to the back of the line.

So I would ask the president: Why would we want to again encourage young people to make one of the most dangerous migration journeys anywhere in the world? Why would we want to empower the brutal criminals who control Mexico’s smuggling networks? And why would we want to unfairly punish those seeking to immigrate legally?

a) Are these fair questions?  Explain your answer.

b) Senator Cornyn also wrote in is commentary:

Failing to get his way in Congress does not give President Obama the right to go around Congress. The American people strongly oppose his executive amnesty… (Read Sen. Cornyn’s entire commentary at: nationalreview.com/node/393061/print)

Do you agree with these assertions? Do you think President Obama is overstepping his presidential authority? Explain your answer.