Pres. Obama promises Progressive group quick action on immigration
In a meeting with Progressives on Tuesday, Pres. Barack Obama promised to take quick action on immigration reform after the start of his new term in January. Pres. Obama said in interviews leading up to Election Day that not passing a mass amnesty bill during his first term was one of his greatest disappointments, but continues to be vocal about his desire to get something done in the near future.
According to a report from the Huffington Post, someone who attended the meeting said the President appeared to be "dead serious" when he talked about immigration.
"I've been in a number of meetings with him on this topic, it's been pretty rough, but this one, the passion, intensity, seriousness -- I was pretty struck," the source told the Huffington Post. "If there's one thing he was crystal clear he was going to get done in 2013 ... it was immigration reform. He was going to lean into it, he was sure Republicans were going to come to the table. It was sort of what he's said before, but with huge conviction."
During Pres. Obama's first term, Congress tried to pass the DREAM Act that would provide an amnesty for young illegal immigrants that were brought here at a young age by their parents and meet certain criteria, but the attempts failed on two separate occassions in the Senate.
This past summer, however, the Obama Administration issued a new directive allowing illegal aliens who would have qualified for amnesty under the DREAM Act to apply for deferred action. The order requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to violate federal immigration laws or face adverse employment action. A group of ICE agents and the State of Mississippi have sued top officials at the Department of Homeland Security over the directive. See their complaint here.
For more information, see the Huffington Post.