Immigrants Are Suffering Because Obama Threw Them Under the Bus for Obamacare
His legacy will be grim.
Last night, a California judge issued an injunction barring President Trump from scrapping Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood

Arrivals (DACA) program that gave DREAMers, immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as minors but have grown up as Americans, a temporary reprieve from deportation. Not only did the judge tell Trump to ice his plans to throw DACA recipients out of the country, as he was planning to do if Congress did not pass a law offering them permanent protections by March, but to renew the DACA status of DREAMers who already have it. But Democrats shouldn't get too excited by the order, as the Trump administration will surely appeal — and it could well prevail in a higher court.
This means that Democrats have to still try and work out a deal with this pres to protect Dreamers. But the fact of the matter is that they are playing a weak hand, I note in my column at The Week. And for that they can blame President Barack Obama who prioritized health care reform, which had zero bipartisan support, over immigration reform, which both sides desperately wanted at that time, making a mess of both.
Obamacare is sputtering. Nativists have been emboldened. And Dreamers are fighting for their life while their parents have little hope of being legalized.
At this stage, even diehard liberals should be asking themselves: Was Obamacare really worth it?
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Obama's only two accomplishments were Obamacare and the Iran Deal, both which did a little good and little bad, but overall will have no positive long-term impact on anything. And to get those two things, he ignored or ruined the chances of fixing every other problem.
His focus on the Iran Deal means he screwed up nearly every other foreign policy decision and pandered to every possible bad actor in the world.
His focus on Obamacare, something nobody wanted and rammed through the House despite bipartisan opposition, destroyed any possibility of fixing far easier problems like immigration.
It's amazing how everything gets intertwined.
He musta been a really shitty chess player.
Take it from me - noted shitty chess player.
Canadian chess is just like normal chess, except you have to say "sorry" after each move.
Did you ever notice that the pieces for Sorry look like chess pawns? That may be where the game originated.
Local news is reporting that a massive car accident killed 10 people this morning. But the real tragedy is the traffic jam created in its aftermath, which caused several immigrants to be 20 minutes late for breakfast plans with their friends.
I laffed.
You should watch Margaret Cho get caught in this very quagmire on Norm's show.
This analogy is indeed a pile up.
Yeah, that's about Dalmia's speed. She only cares about a thing in terms of how it changes things for immigrants, illegal or otherwise. It's an amusingly overt anti-America message that's coming, ironically, from an immigrant. I don't think Dalmia is making the point she thinks she is.
At this stage, even diehard liberals should be asking themselves: Was Obamacare really worth it?
Other people's lives have about as much value as other people's money if you're intent on making that omelet.
Sure, ObamaCare could be undone. But legalizing hundreds of thousands, if not million of illegal aliens can't be.
So given the choice I guess I am glad the president pushed for ObamaCare.
No it won't. The fluffing by apologists will continue unabated in perpetuity.
Apologizing during fluffing is counterproductive.
Unless it's a full-throated apology...
Unless it's a full-throated apology...
Well the MSM has been doing to that to Obama since day one, so why stop now?
At this stage, even diehard liberals should be asking themselves: Was Obamacare really worth it?
I strongly doubt you're going to find a single Democrat that's going to tell you that Obamacare wasn't worth it. I mean, you might find some centrists Democrats that don't spend their days feverishly following Twitter and are constantly 'engaged' in the day-to-day of Washington DC who may think it isn't. I'm further guessing that few would "connect" the passing of the ACA with the rocky road of immigration policy right now. That seems really... wonky.
I would have gone with "obsessive" but I guess "wonky" works too.
Great. On the same day I criticize Shikha for her writing she comes out with a reasonable, insightful article (which I actually read).
I disagree with the idea that Obama and the Democrats actually care about illegal immigrants, however: Obama's actions on DACA were simply a cynical political exercise to gin up Hispanic votes.
Last night, a California judge issued an injunction barring President Trump from scrapping Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program
Jesus. Isn't there even any pretense at judicial integrity left? It was an executive order. If Obama has the power to make it, Trump has the power to rescind it!
Not to mention his attempt to tell the executive branch it HAS to renew an Obama executive order!!!!!
Never mind secession, time to force California out, and fire the entire ninth circuit as it goes. Replace the rest of the justices (except Hawaii) with new guys (yes I did that on purpose) and get back to being a court.
Team lefty is upset that Trump is doing so much to unwind the bureaucracy.
Isn't there even any pretense at judicial integrity left?
I LOL'd
Motion to amend SD's classification from Fundamentalist Leftist Hooligan to Repressed Liber-sexual.
Second?
"leaving the other roughly 9 million undocumented immigrants vulnerable to deportation, even if they have committed no crimes"
Inconvenient truth: ALL illegal immigrants have committed a crime. 100% of them. Every. Single. One.
The phrase 'undocumented immigrants' is a total bald faced lie in every part. If you are an immigrant, you have documentation. If you do not have documentation, you are not an immigrant, you are a criminal. Those are the facts.
If that makes you unhappy, get the laws changed. Increasing LEGAL immigration is almost certainly a good idea, but through the proper constitutional process. Raising legal immigration limits is the best way to eliminate illegal border crossings.
Increasing LEGAL immigration is almost certainly a good idea...
Is it, though? Why, or why not? There's a case to be made that illegal immigration specifically is a 'good' thing, but more legal immigration is a wash, even while those arguments are...so utilitarian than they likely cross the line into unethical by most other metrics. Needless to say, that is exactly what we've done.
We're never going to "solve" immigration because for most people the status quo is preferable to any suggested solution. We are always going to have a large underclass of illegal residents because that is what American consumers and businesses want. America doesn't much care one way or the other about allowing a vastly increased number of legals, so that won't happen. And so forth. Nothing will change. And nobody will be talking about immigration in 5 or 10 years.
Nation (as per Bing):
"a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory"
Immigrant (as per Bing):
"a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country"
"Nation of Immigrants, or How I learned to re-brand the oppressive and problematic ideals of American Manifest Destiny into something more palatable for cocktail parties and snob-jobbery."
Legal immigration seems to be going quite well in Europe.
Re: Longtobefree,
With a logic such as yours I can argue that America is populated only by criminals.
A criminal is a person who has committed an act of aggression against another individual.
Made-up 'crimes' like not having the government-issued travel papers or not presenting the triplicate copy in your license application are not crimes.
Ohh ohh, I want to hear this logic of yours how Americans are all criminals!
"Nativists have been emboldened. And Dreamers are fighting for their life while their parents have little hope of being legalized."
You are a real piece of work Shikha.
Americans wanting to control their government over the demands of non-Americans. How dare us!
"Nativists have been emboldened. And Dreamers are fighting for their life while their parents have little hope of being legalized."
And it's stupid stuff like this by progs is why Trump won.
It really is unhelpful language.
Non-Americans are non-human!
/Emboldened Nativist
Non-Americans are... not Americans? Yeah I think that's right, so they can't vote and are supposed to have some sort of documentation, a visa or birth certificate I believe, that says they can be somewhere...
I think that is how it works in... every country in the world? Ahh yes that is indeed the answer I was looking for.
Old Mexican has gone on record as stating that he thinks that non-Americans aren't human
An Argument Against Open Borders and Liberal Hubris
http://quillette.com/2017/08/2.....al-hubris/
The numbers are not overestimates. They're preposterous. The Economist keeps making the same mistakes leftists rags do when talking about human action and that is making a Ceteris Paribus GUESS.
Whether nativists like it or not, the Market, not governments, regulate immigration. Immigrants flow towards where they believe their labor will command a higher price. The Market will determine if they are right. Businesses will hire them, renters will rent to them, sellers will sell to them, sweethearts will marry them, or they will create businesses themselves. That's inevitable unless the current State becomes a despotic tyranny like the Soviet or Nazi Germany state.
But the incentives go BOTH ways. If the economic situation improves in their home country then the urge to find new markets for their labor diminishes, because their opportunity cost goes up. So unless you think that there will be NO economic growth ANYWHERE, then you cannot throw those numbers around. YOU CAN'T KNOW.
Japan has 2% or something unemployment and the people are paid fairly well, way better than the Philippines or Indonesia or Vietnam. Why exactly are they not swamped with illegal immigrants if this is some perfect system of economics where nothing matters but needs and money?
Because Japan is surrounded by oceans, and immigrants are terrible swimmers.
Land use regulation is rather effective at limiting population growth on the local level. There are some home owners that rent illegally, but most building owners abide by occupancy limits. When the stimulus package failed to revile the economy, an economic analysis from the Obama administration found that the metropolitan areas with the most restrictive land use policies had the most trouble recovering from the economy, because new workers couldn't find homes and move into the area when industries were ready to grow.
You don't have to be as severe as the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany to prevent people form living in an area. Ariel Sharon expelled 8,500 Israelis from Gaza in 2005. Those Israelis were 0.1% of the Israeli population, making that expulsion the equivalent of Trump deporting 325,000 people from America on short notice. Back then, the left called people Nazis if they didn't support the expulsion.
Dude, where do you think you are? We can't have rational discussions about the pros and cons of this policy. This is an emotional decision, and if you don't wholeheartedly support letting anyone who wants to come the America do so, or even entertain the idea that immigration can be restricted then you are an evil heartless racist bigot Nazi privileged white male.
Fuck off, Dalmia. No one loves you
"...the Trump administration will surely appeal ? and it could well prevail in a higher court."
This year's winner for best under statement!
Good point, Dalmia.