By Ana Choi
The comprehensive immigration reform package passed by the Senate last year has yet to be taken up by the House of Representatives, due to partisan disagreement over issues such as the path to citizenship and reinforcement of border security. Meanwhile, President Obama has come under increasing pressure to use his executive power to unilaterally suspend deportations. There have been about 2 million deportations under this administration—a number that exceeds that of previous administrations—and Democratic legislators as well as immigration activists have called on President Obama to take action instead of waiting for Congress. The President did promise during his 2014 State of the Union address to use his “pen and phone” to overcome Congressional gridlock when necessary, and he has taken measures such as halting the deportation of “Dreamers” and ordering a review of the administration’s immigration policies to determine ways to make it more humane. However, he has resisted using his executive power to suspend deportations on a large scale so far, and he is right to do so.
As observed in a report by the Brennan Center for Justice, executive power has been used in expansive ways by both progressive and conservative presidents in the past: President Reagan imposed greater oversight and control over agency actions by creating the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), President Clinton catalyzed welfare reform through the Department of Health and Human Services, and President Bush issued orders ranging from the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security to the revision of rules for detention and interrogation. As a result, executive power has become a malleable tool that can serve a wide spectrum of policy goals, and public reaction to the use of executive power tends to turn on partisan considerations (Democrats protest when it’s used by a Republican president, and Republicans protest when it’s used by a Democratic president) rather than on doctrinal considerations such as separation of powers.
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