“The president’s action yesterday takes a number of bold steps toward fixing our broken immigration system. First, it focuses immigration enforcement efforts on dangerous criminals instead of families and shifts resources to improve border security. Second, it keeps families together by allowing parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents to remain in the country and receive work authorizations if they can pass a background check and pay taxes and fees. This program would provide relief from deportation for a period of three years, but immigrants under this program would not be eligible for certain federal benefits such as health coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. Third, it would expand protections for DREAMers so children brought here through no fault of their own have access to a college education and can contribute to the economy and society as a whole.

“President Obama is well within his constitutional bounds to act on immigration. Every single president since Dwight Eisenhower – including Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush – has taken executive action on immigration, but as the AP has written, ‘there was no political explosion then comparable to the one Republicans are threatening now.’ It’s clear that the criticism from the right is not a reflection on the policy itself, but a reflection on their feelings about the president proposing the policy.

“Of course, executive action is no substitute for comprehensive legislation. Over 500 days ago, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill to fix our broken immigration system and reduce the deficit by almost a trillion dollars. Despite bipartisan support for that legislation in the House of Representatives, Speaker Boehner has stood in the way of immigration reform and refused to take action on the issue. Democrats stand ready to work with Republicans when they finally catch up with the public’s support for immigration reform.”