President Obama's Labor Day 2014 speech about the current immigration crisis and his assertion that illegal immigrants have "rights" was nothing if not polarizing.
"Cynicism is a bad choice. Hope is the better choice. Hope is what gives us courage. Hope is what gave soldiers' courage to storm a beach. Hope is what gives young people the strength to march for women's rights and workers' rights and civil rights and voting rights and gay rights and immigration rights," the President said Monday.
This speech marled the first time the president publicly endorsed illegal immigrants and his beliefs that they have 'rights' in the United States, Cross Map reported.
However, unlike minority rights of women, civil workers, voters, and gays, a majority of people are at odds with Obama's designation since illegal immigrants are technically breaking the law when they enter the country and they do not have rights under the U.S. Constitution.
With tens of thousands of minors crossing the border in recent months, critics claim the Obama administration has done nothing to stop or fix the issue. To the contrary his decision to stand down on boder security will encourage more people to cross the border.
In an interview with Fox news, Bob Dane, the communications director of FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform), said it would cost the nation over $760 million to educate illegal immigrant minors.
"We want to have compassion for illegal alien kids, but let's not lose sight of the rule of law and compassion for American Kids."
In recent months the President has threatened to act unilaterally on immigration reform, and activists believe he is preparing to extend the deferred action program to millions, according to an article published by TIME. It is unclear however under what authority the President would act since the Constitution does not grant the executive officer such power. If he does so anyway, his actions could spark a Constitutional crisis. (For more on this point, read HNGN's own Heather Hansen's legal opinion here).
The Deferred Action program allows some illegal immigrants – those who deemed low priority for immigration deportation enforcement – to remain in the United States.
"According to the U.S. customs and border patrol, there has been a surge in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border," Cross Map reported. "In most cases, the number of children crossing the border from various countries has doubled, when compared to 2013." Still, statistics show that the majority of illegals crossing the border are adults.
