# President's Immigration Speech - Discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 21, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218 "2014-11-21T00:58:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/1 "2014-11-21T00:58:07Z")
Starting any minute. Anyone else going to watch? I’m watching at [NBCNEWS.COM](http://NBCNEWS.COM) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/2 "2014-11-21T01:09:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Obama will lay out changes he is making to immigration laws without the consent of Congress. A key element of his plan is to instruct immigration authorities to prioritize expulsion action against gang members, felons and suspected terrorists rather than law abiding undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and residents and others, senior administration officials said. > > The changes will offer those who qualify the chance to stay temporarily in the country for three years, as long as they pass background checks and pay back taxes. But they will not be offered a path to eventual citizenship or be eligible for federal benefits or health care programs. And, in theory, the measures could be reversed by a future president. > **[Obama: ‘You can come out of the shadows’ | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/20/politics/obama-immigration-speech/index.html?hpt=hp_t1)** > > President Barack Obama will order immigration officers to deport “felons not families” as he uses his executive power to make immigration changes. Doesn’t sound too bad. The question I would have, is what if you’re not undocumented? What if you have fake or stolen documents? That’s a felony. Does that mean you will be deported? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/3 "2014-11-21T01:17:25Z")
Wow. That was quick. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/4 "2014-11-21T01:17:53Z")
I thought it was a terrific speech. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/5 "2014-11-21T01:19:46Z")
I don’t know. If I were an immigrant, I think I’d say “haven’t I heard this before?” When is this all supposed to start? How can an immigrant find out more without fear of being yoinked? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/6 "2014-11-21T01:24:30Z")
Or worse, his plan goes forward, they come out of the shadows. They register, fill out the papers. And then the Republicans pass a law to use those registrations to round them up and kick them out. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/7 "2014-11-21T01:24:55Z")
It was a good speech, fairly light on what the actual plans are though. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/8 "2014-11-21T01:25:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Or worse, his plan goes forward, they come out of that shadows. They register, fill out the papers. > > And then the Republicans pass a law to use those registrations to round them up and kick them out. 'Zactly. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/9 "2014-11-21T01:25:58Z")
One useful thing Republicans should do is announce that if an immigrant used fake or stolen documents to get employment, don’t even bother applying for deferment. You’re a felon, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, you will be deported. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/10 "2014-11-21T01:27:54Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > It was a good speech, fairly light on what the actual plans are though. You noticed that too, eh? Not that he needed to detail everything during the speech, but a little more substance would have been good. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/11 "2014-11-21T01:30:42Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > One useful thing Republicans should do is announce that if an immigrant used fake or stolen documents to get employment, don’t even bother applying for deferment. You’re a felon, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, you will be deported. So, you want to keep the one’s who don’t work? How many idle rich illegal immigrants do you expect? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/12 "2014-11-21T01:36:03Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > One useful thing Republicans should do is announce that if an immigrant used fake or stolen documents to get employment, don’t even bother applying for deferment. You’re a felon, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, you will be deported. Useful for who, I mean other than Republicans who will not rest until every undocumented \*Latino immigrant is deported regardless how long they’ve been here and contributed to the economy of this country? - Let’s be honest, Republicans only care about the brown ones. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/13 "2014-11-21T01:38:35Z")
So can we actually read the details of the plan anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/14 "2014-11-21T01:39:56Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > One useful thing Republicans should do is announce that if an immigrant used fake or stolen documents to get employment, don’t even bother applying for deferment. You’re a felon, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, you will be deported. That’s a particularly inept plan. It would cost billions, destroy families, and does nothing whatsoever to fix the immigration problem the GOP is causing by not addressing the issue. I mean, I’m sure it would sound sexy-as-fuck to the GOP base. Since, you know, _hurting brown people_. But it’s still a shit plan. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/15 "2014-11-21T01:41:21Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > One useful thing Republicans should do is announce that if an immigrant used fake or stolen documents to get employment, don’t even bother applying for deferment. You’re a felon, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, you will be deported. That is just exaggerating to silly levels and ignoring the past. The past immigration reform by Super Star Republican Ronald Reagan included a tacit forgiveness of that, AFAICR the only way I could had recovered my back taxes from back then is if I had reported the fake social security number I used, I considered all that money that was owned to me as a fair deal in exchange for becoming a resident back then and then a citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/16 "2014-11-21T02:12:53Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > So can we actually read the details of the plan anywhere? [This is the most detail I’ve seen so far.](http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2014/11/20/obama-immigration-plan-fact-sheet/70029150/) More details should come out tomorrow and in the coming weeks. Rumor has it the details are still being finalized. I will try to post updates as I see them, but I think I’m about to be very, very busy. (Possibly more because my managing partner is kind of freaking out than because of the actual volume my firm will see. We are very thorough and therefore more expensive than some.) Eva Luna, Immigration Paralegal ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/17 "2014-11-21T02:16:28Z")
Also, I have to say that I am kind of irked at all the legal preferences given to parents of U.S. citizens over other people who are at least as deserving. What about adult children who are taking care of their elderly and/or disabled U.S. citizen or permanent resident parents, but don’t have U.S. citizen children? Hopefully some of these people will be covered by the expansion of DACA, but I imagine some will fall through the cracks. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/18 "2014-11-21T02:21:18Z")
I thought he hit it out of the park. My only problem is that he didn’t give it about three weeks ago when it might have energized his base. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/19 "2014-11-21T02:23:02Z")
Why did he wait until after the midterms 6 years into his presidency to do this? I’m assuming he is just pandering to Latinos. If he wanted to halt deportations he could’ve done it before. I guess he wants to draw distinctions between the 2 parties in the hopes Latinos will remember this in 2016. I supported obama, but the guy is so full of shit. He only supports policies that are safe, or he only supports them for political reasons. I’m assuming this is all a ploy to help win the dems the 2016 election. LBJ would do what was right and had principles. Obama is the opposite. I’m sure he will do more ‘executive action’ motions he could’ve done in the last 6 years designed to appeal to latinos, millennials, poor people, etc. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218/20 "2014-11-21T02:26:19Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Why did he wait until after the midterms 6 years into his presidency to do this? > > I’m assuming he is just pandering to Latinos. If he wanted to halt deportations he could’ve done it before. I guess he wants to draw distinctions between the 2 parties in the hopes Latinos will remember this in 2016. > > I supported obama, but the guy is so full of shit. He only supports policies that are safe, or he only supports them for political reasons. I’m assuming this is all a ploy to help win the dems the 2016 election. LBJ would do what was right and had principles. Obama is the opposite. > > I’m sure he will do more ‘executive action’ motions he could’ve done in the last 6 years designed to appeal to latinos, millennials, poor people, etc. You can blame him for doing it now instead of over the summer like he promised, and at this point i think everyone can agree listening to scared democrats was a mistake. But six years ago? this is a fuck you to congress, you don’t do it BEFORE they’ve had their chance to act. This isn’t a solution, it’s a stopgap until the problem is solved, it would have been dumb to use it right out of the gate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-immigration-speech-discussion/705218.md?page=2)