Immigration Reform 1

Immigration Reform
Chesapeake College
Megan Toth and

Immigration Reform 2
Overview
At President Obamas State of the Union Address in 2013, Obama brought up the failure of past
Immigration Reform policies. Obama proceeded to say that the time for a comprehensive
immigration reform policy is now. During his first term, Obama promised that during his
Presidency he would do something about the country's lack of immigration policy. Nothing was
ever accomplished during his first term. However during his second term, at the State of Union
Address, he again brought promised that something would be done for the new immigration
reform policy. Discussion between the President and the Legislative branch happens over
Obamas second term. There is a lack of cooperation in the Legislative branch, however; under
the table a Bipartisan bill is going through the Senate, where the Democrats are trying to get the
support of the Republicans on this bill. They manage to get the bill to squeeze by and then send it
to the House of Representatives, where it is then stalled, due to lack of consideration. Being so
thoroughly annoyed with the Legislative branch, the President then proceeded to use Executive
Orders to get the bill through, where it has since run into accounts of being unconstitutional. It is
now in the Judicial branch where the Executive orders are being reviewed.

Executive Branch
The first step to recent Immigration reform movements starts with Obamas State of the Union
Address. Where he stated, Right now, leaders from the business, labor, law enforcement, faith
communities they all agree that the time has come to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Now is the time to do it. Now is the time to get it done (Remarks by the President in the State of
Union Speech, 2013, para. 48). The President then went on to propose a rough draft for his

Immigration Reform 3
immigration reform plan. Obama states, Stronger border security putting more boots on the
southern borderestablishing a responsible pathway to earn citizenshipincluding passing
background checks, paying taxes and a meaningful penalty, and learning Englishfixing the
legal immigration reform system to cut waiting periods and attract the highly-skilled
entrepreneurs and engineers that will help create jobs and grow our economy (Remarks by the
President in the State of Union Speech, 2013, para. 49-51). Obama then proposed his
Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill the included way to fix the broken policy and then set
up a new plan with different working parts that would allow this policy to thrive. This policy
includes the following ideas: Strengthen Border Security, Revise Removal Priorities, End Secure
Communities and Replace it with New Priority Enforcement Program, Personal Reform for ICE
Officers, Expand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program, Extend Deferred
Action to Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), Expand Provisional
Waivers to Spouses and Children of Lawful Permanent Residents, Revise Parole Rules, Promote
the Naturalization Process, Support High-skilled Business and Workers.
Legislative Branch
During the time of the presidents actions to get a bill going. In Congress, the Democrats in the
Senate were working on a bipartisan comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. All of the
Democrats were in support and a few Republicans were in agreement with the need for this bill.
The bill they came up with was S.744 or the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and
Immigration Modernization Act, (A Guide to S.744, 2013, July 10, para. 2). The drafters of this
bill were called The Gang of Eight and included Senators, John McCain (R-Ariz.), Marco
Rubio (R-Fla.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick

Immigration Reform 4
Durbin (D-Ill.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) (Danielle Schlanger et
al., 2013, para. 3). This bill covered All aspects of the immigration process from border and
enforcement issues to legal immigration reforms (A Guide to S.744, 2013, para. 2). In
extension, the bill included several reforms to the citizenship process, changes to the visa process
for families and the workforce, and providing citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants (A
Guide to S.744, 2013, para. 2). But before these reforms could be put into place, several different
enforcement plans had to be put to action, like: A 700ft. wall need to be built, more boots on the
southern border, and an employment verification system needed to be put into play (A Guide to
S.744, 2013, para. 3). The bill was voted on in the Senate and was passed with all the
Democratic vote and 14 of the Republicans for a total of 68 to 32 (Danielle Schlanger et al.,
2013, para. 2). The bill was then passes to the House of Representatives, with the hope that there
would be a swift decision.
However when it reached the House, things did not go as the Senate planned. Before the Senate
bill was ever mentioned to the House, there was under-the-table planning of a House
Immigration Reform bill. There was a bipartisan group in the House that was working on a bill,
but after a while they lost support and the whole operation fell apart (Chishti Muzaffar &
Hipsman Faye, 2014, para. 17). A little after the bipartisan bill fell apart, House Judiciary
Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte led a piecemeal effort involving individual reform bills
aimed at different aspects of immigration reform (Chishti Muzaffar & Hipsman Faye, 2014, para.
17). By the time the Senate bill passed, House committees had approved five small-bore
immigration bills, only one with bipartisan support (Chishti Muzaffar & Hipsman Faye, 2014,
para. 17). Soon after S.744 was sent to the House; Speaker of the House, Boehner state that the
Senate bill would not be brought to the house floor because it lacked the support of the majority

Immigration Reform 5
of the Republicans (Chishti Muzaffar & Hipsman Faye, 2014, para. 16). However there wasnt
a big backlash on the bill, so the Senate hoped that the House would reconsider. This however
was not to be, because of the large pressing matters concerning Syria, the budget, and the debt
ceiling; the Immigration reform to a back burner compared to everything else in the eyes of the
House (Chishti Muzaffar & Hipsman Faye, 2014, para. 19). It was later decided in the House that
there just wasnt anytime left in the year for them to discuss an immigration reform plan.
The Executive Order
The President, who was becoming frustrated with the Legislative branch, decided that the only
way to get the ball rolling on this issue was to issue an Executive order; so that something may
be done to resolve Immigration Reform. In November, Obama bypassed Congress in signing an
executive order, shielding nearly 5 million immigrants from deportation and granting benefits to
some parents of citizens and legal residents (Ross, 2015, para. 3). This led to an uproar from 26
of the states, who are now suing for the action to be stopped. The Executive order is now being
looked over in the Judicial branch.
Judicial Branch
The Executive orders brought about by President Obama initiated the involvement of the
Judicial branch into Immigration reform; this involvement comes about in the case of State of
Texas, et al v. U.S.A. This case based out of the Southern Texas District court which involves
Texas and 25 other states finding that the Executive orders given to the Secretary of Homeland to
adopt and assist in the governments limited immigration enforcement resources allowing for the
Immigration reform act to be in-term made into law. Which in the district courts holding that
standing may be based on the federal governments supposed abdication of its duty to enforce

Immigration Reform 6
the immigration laws.(Alia, 2015) This standing is why the States have moved against these
Executive orders and have brought about a The preliminary injunction irreparably harms the
defendants and the public interest by disrupting the Secretarys comprehensive effort to most
effectively marshal the agencys limited resources to protect national security, public safety, and
border security, while deferring low-priority removals of aliens that would impose undue
humanitarian costs.(Justice, 2015) This injunction at the moment is the stalling controversy for
any Immigration reform to take place; it has halted the Executive orders and any reform that it
would have brought about including the expansion of DAPA and DACA which are the Deferred
Action of Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents and the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals. These are both key parts in Immigration reform which are being blocked as
the decision waits the courts decision. The injunction persists, even while under amicus curiae
(U.S. District Court, 2015) until an Appellate court is able to come to a determining decision on
whether such Executive orders are unconstitutional and outside of the Presidents powers to act
when the Senate and House of Representatives fail to do so. There will be an enormous amount
of feedback from public opinion when this issue becomes fully instated in the courts.
Public Opinion
Public opinion of Immigration reform seems to hit on a topic in which most people tend to be
either extremely for or against these the reforms and really only a handful of reasons why such
reforms should or should not take place. With the ever growing Latino population in the United
States of America it can be seen that their vote as an ethnicity is growing very strong, but
incumbent, this large voting force though still shows that once they speak of such Immigration
reform politicians in the Senate, House of Representatives, and President Obama himself
responded. It can be seen that even some Latinos are against the upcoming Immigration reform

Immigration Reform 7
as Fifty million Latinos today are more powerful than ever and need not accept bad legislation
like migajeros (beggars).(Gonzlez, 2013) This statement shows that even Latinos do not fully
accept this new reform as they find it causes less of an Immigration reform and more of a
national security bill. But with an overwhelming majority of Latino voters still pushing for
Immigration reform, the process started. This can also be backed through polling information
about Immigration reform in which the results were found as The general public
overwhelmingly favors immigration reform. Poll after poll shows that Americans want wellenforced, sensible, and sustainable immigration laws. (FairUS, 2011) In which the Immigration
reform would be brought about with such concerns placed in it through the S744 bill that would
bring about equal Immigration reform. Though public opinion comes from all parts over the
country, the voices that scream the loudest are the interest groups that hold stakes in the outcome
of the decision.
Interest Groups
The opinions of those who have a stake in Immigration Reform vary greatly on the grounds of
what they hope to gain and what they can lose. The companies that tend to lean towards
reforming immigration are mostly tech companies. Microsoft, HP, Intel, Facebook, and
Consumer Electronics Association have spent a lot of time lobbying in the government to gain
support for reform; with Microsoft having spent the most money (Phillips, 2013, para. 2-3).
There are also companies that are against immigration reform, other organizations lobbying on
immigration include NumbersUSA.com, Associates Builders & Contractors, and the National
Roofing Contractors Association. NumbersUSA, an organization created explicitly to cut
immigration to the U.S., has taken a hard stance against the proposed plans of the White House
and the Senate Gang of Eight (Phillips, 2013, para. 4). Other smaller contenders have other

Immigration Reform 8
reasons for their positions on immigration reform. Several construction companies have been
accused of wanting to pay their Hispanic workers less than their Caucasian workers, prisons have
also put in their two cents on this issue (Phillips, 2013, para. 5-6). Though it seems opinions
are equally split, the bigger companies have the most money spent in lobbying.
Separation of Powers
Separation of Powers is the idea that each branch of the government (judicial, executive, and
legislative) has its powers, duties, and rights laid out to them in the constitution; in order to
prevent one branch from doing the job of another. The Executive branchs job is to make sure the
laws are being upheld. The job of the Legislative branch is to make legislation. The Judicial
branchs job is to check the Constitutionality of any problems that end up on its desk. The effect
this has on Immigration reform is: that the Legislative branch has the job of writing up the bill
required for Immigration reform, the Executive branch is supposed to make sure that any laws
concerning immigration are upheld, and the Judicial branch is supposed to make sure that should
something concerning the Immigration reform bill come into question on whether or not it is
constitutional the courts will review the arguments and decide on the constitutional bases of the
things in question. This then leads further into the equal power between the branches, because
Checks and Balances further divides up the power held by the branches.
Checks and Balances
The show of Checks and Balances within our Government system can be seem clearly in the
process in which Immigration reform has followed through its very first step as S744, a Bill
being debated on in the Senate. When S744 was being debated on as Legislature, the Democrats
did not have a super-majority in which they could just pass S744 onto the House of

Immigration Reform 9
Representatives; this required a bi-partisan approach on the bill which is somewhat of an internal
check the legislative branch has on itself. As well a balance encountered in the Legislative
branch is one in which S744 had to be passed by both the Senate and the House of
Representatives, which it wasnt. The Executive branch as well has many checks and balances, a
check that can be seen during the movement of Immigration reform is when President Obama
moved to Executive orders to bring about Immigration reform but the Judicial branch was able to
act as a check and placed an injunction against a power which was thought to be
unconstitutional. However there has not been any further progress in the courts concerning
Immigration Reform.
Conclusion
This topic is still being held in the Judicial branch, though there has not been any word on its
progress yet, an appeal has been filed and that is where the case is up to as of yet.

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Works Cited
District Court Grants Preliminary Injunction in Lawsuit Challenging DAPA and DACA
Expansion Share District Court Grants Preliminary Injunction in Lawsuit Challenging
DAPA and DACA Expansion. (2015, February 16). Retrieved November 30, 2015, from
American Immigration Lawyers Association website: http://aila.org/infonet/dist-ct-stateof-texas-v-usa-02-16-15
Fixing Our Broken Immigration System Through Executive Action - Key Facts. (2015, August
19). Retrieved November 18, 2015, from Homeland Security website:
http://www.dhs.gov/immigration-action
Gonzlez, A. (2013, June 28). What would the Old Man do (as CIR/S744 Goes Bad)? Retrieved
November 30, 2015, from La Prensa website: http://laprensa-sandiego.org/editorial-andcommentary/commentary/what-would-the-old-man-do-as-cirs744-goes-bad/
A Guide to S.744: Understanding the 2013 Senate Immigration Bill. (2013, July 10). Retrieved
November 19, 2015, from American Immigration Council website:
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports/guide-s744-understanding-2013senate-immigration-bill
Olsen - Philips, P. (2013, March 4). Special Interests Battle Over Immigration Reform. Retrieved
November 28, 2015, from Open Secrets website:
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/03/special-interests-weigh-in-on-immig/
Public Opinion Polls on Immigration. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2015, from FAIR website:
http://www.fairus.org/facts/public-opinion

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Remarks by The President in the State of Union Address. (2013, February 12). Retrieved
November 18, 2015, from The White House website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/thepress-office/2013/02/12/remarks-president-state-union-address
Ross, P. (2015, April 6). Immigration Reform 2015: US Cities Call For Delay Of Obama
Executive Order To End. Retrieved November 28, 2015, from International Business
Times website: http://www.ibtimes.com/immigration-reform-2015-us-cities-call-delayobama-executive-order-end-1870558
Schlanger, D., McAuliff, M., & Siddiqui, S. (2013, June 27). Senate Immigration Reform Bill
Passes With Strong Majority. Retrieved November 19, 2015, from Huffington Post
website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/senate-immigration-reformbill_n_3511664.html
Texas v. United States, 15 S. Ct. (5th Cir. 2015). Retrieved from
http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/pressreleases/attachments/2015/03/30/immigration_ca5_-_us_pi_brief.pdf
Texas v. United States, 439 U.S. (5th Cir. 2015). Retrieved from
http://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/File-Stamped-5th-CircuitAmicus.pdf