Bottomless Cynicism and Contempt For Immigrant Communities: Obama's Long-Awaited “Executive Action” on Immigration

A Black Agenda Radio Commentary by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

Back when President Obama was candidate Obama, he promised the immigrant community, in his own words “a road to citizenship”. But although he swept into office with majorities in both houses of the 111th Congress, the new president and his party ignored this and many more of their promises to what the Democratic party likes to call its “base voters,” the poor and working poor, the black, the brown, the young, the old, promises on the minimum wage, promises to make it easier for workers to unionize, promises to end the war on drugs, to rein in banksters and oil companies, promises to relieve underwater homeowners, to curtailing nuclear weapons and much more.

Instead of delivering his promised “road to citizenship” the president immediately began using his executive powers to do the precise opposite of what he promised, deporting 2 million immigrants, on the flimsiest of pretexts, shattering hundreds of thousands of families.

After two years of not delivering, the president and his party lost their majority in the House. That time, not this one, was the moment for executive action on immigration, preceded by a profound presidential apology for not doing what the president is asking Republicans to do now, namely passing an immigration bill.

It's a measure of the abject subservience of Latino Democrats that they dare not call the president on his current “executive action” on immigration.

But the fact is, President Obama's announced action is a naked attempt to disarm the immigrant movement by arbitrarily dividing communities into legitimate and illegitimate immigrants. It will defer deportation of up to roughly a third of the undocumented, the parents of US citizens, provided they pass background checks and have lived here 5 years already. And being an executive action instead of the legislation the president and his party could have passed in 2009-2010 when they had the majority, it's open to interference by the Congress and totally contingent on the election of another Democrat to the White House in 2016, because after all with only the two capitalist parties, where can immigrants go?

The president's so-called “bold executive action” does nothing to address the US 40 Years War war on drugs, which continues to sprout anonymous mass graves throughout Mexico and Central America. It even contains provisions which will make it easier for employers to recruit hi-tech temps from overseas and deport them when their jobs are over, forcing US hi-tech workers to compete with them in a race for the bottom.

The president's lauded executive action on immigration then, is not a victory for immigrant communities, it's not a concession which their movement has wrung from the powers that be. It's old bone with rotten meat flung to immigrant communities, an expression of the bottomless cynicism and contempt the Democratic president and his party, have for Democratic voters and their communities.

For Black Agenda Radio I'm Bruce Dixon. Find us on the web at www.blackagendareport.com, and be sure to subscribe to our free weekly email updates at www.blackagendareport.com/subscribe. That's www.blackagendareport.com/subscribe.

Bruce A. Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report. He lives and works in Marietta GA and is a member of the state committee of the GA Green Party. Contact him via this site's contact page, or directly via email at bruce.dixon(at)blackagendareport.com.

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