Many LGBTs have long championed immigration reform, and for good reason. Some are immigrants themselves, and want the opportunity to have a path to citizenship if they are undocumented. Others are citizens in relationships with undocumented residents or visitors with expired visas. These binational couples face fear and frustration with the current system – especially if they are married, because immigration law does not recognize same-sex spouses.
So it was that LGBT advocates cheerfully greeted President Barack Obama's announcement last week that an executive order will allow hundreds of thousands of undocumented people who came to the U.S. as children to remain in the country without fear of deportation. The order will also enable these young people to apply for work permits.
Obama's executive order accomplishes some of the goals of the Dream Act (the proposed federal legislation that would allow young people who were brought to this country as children to apply for citizenship). While that legislation is currently stalled in Congress, with virtually no chance at passage before the presidential election, Obama's executive order is a good first step. In the past we have urged the president to take bold action or use executive orders when necessary or when Congress won't budge; to make any progress on immigration reform Obama needed to break the logjam in Congress.
The president's order is not an open door and does involve some qualifying criteria. It will only apply to those undocumented young people who came to the United States before they turned 16 years old and are currently younger than 30; have a high school diploma or GED or have served in the U.S. military; have remained in the country for five consecutive years; and have no criminal record. Still, the order is expected to benefit more than 800,000 undocumented young people, enabling them to go to college or to legally seek employment.
Naturally, Republicans reacted angrily, even those who are on record supporting immigration reform. Obama's order does not include amnesty, a favorite buzzword of the right, that exaggerated argument is moot. The goal of this transparent partisanship is to deny Obama a second term and has nothing to do with the issue at hand: reforming our country's broken immigration laws. Fear-mongering is what the GOP does best, as even President George W. Bush discovered when he attempted immigration reform. The Nation magazine points out that Republicans are now in a tricky spot because many of them actually agree with Obama's position. His executive order is weaker than the version of the Dream Act sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida). Case in point: presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney appeared on Face the Nation on Sunday and side-stepped the question every time moderator Bob Schieffer asked about it.
Republicans accused the president of merely pandering to Latino voters. But with harsh anti-immigrant laws in red states like Arizona and Alabama, the majority of those voters were already in the Democratic column. (Much like the majority of LGBT voters already expressing support for Obama before he made his announcement in favor of marriage equality.)
Republicans are boxed in by the president and they know it; so they resort to talking points that are parroted by Fox News that have no basis in reality. What they should have done was acknowledge that Obama's order was a sensible short-term solution and moved on, as the Nation noted.
Obama's action is another bold step that will help people. The Republicans can complain all they want, but they should provide leadership if they expect to be taken seriously.