ImmigrationWhite House to reassess deportation policy internally

President Barack Obama, after his meeting with key Latino leaders last Friday to discuss further implementation of reform under current law, has announced that the administration will take another look into current deportation policies.. Despite recently criticized rejections by the administration of calls to do more, and the president’s own frustration with a stalled immigration overhaul in Congress, DHS secretary Jeh Johnson was ordered by the president to review the nation’s current program to explore more humane ways to treat illegal immigrants already in custody — though without actual change to legal procedure.

PBS reports that in the wake of previous assertions by the president that he has already exerted his presidential powers to their fullestt extent, multiple groups have responded with their own dissatisfaction – a growing problem for the president and his party as a wave of elections approach – and one of the likely reasons for the announced reassessment.

Lorella Praeli, of the immigrant youth organization United We Dream, was among those who met with the president. Carrying a continued sense of skepticism, she told the New York Times, “We disagree that he cannot act today to halt deportations and be bold on the administrative front. We don’t need a review at this time. We need him to act.”

Similarly, Deepak Bhargave of the Center for Community Change stated that “activists vowed to continue pressing for an end to deportations.” This assessment is also echoed within the party itself, with Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois) telling PBS that “The White House had been dormant for too long.”

Others, however, see this decision in a much more aggressive light. PBS also reports that Representative Steve King (R-Iowa), one of the leading critics of the White House’s – and the Senate-endorsed — immigration reform measure and a supporter of more restrictive immigration policies, believes the move will further damage the cooperation between parties to work on immigration reform in Congress, which is already an issue for both sides given policy and voter base. “It looks to me like he’s preparing another trial balloon to go forth with more likely unconstitutional executive actions,” said King of Obama’s latest measure (Republican critics of the president often describe as unconstitutional his use of executive power to modify aspects of the country’s immigration law in the face of congressional impasse).

During a press conference, the White House declined to provide further light on whether there is a timeline for the review.