Obama Delays Executive Order on Immigration

After stating in June that he would take action by the end of the summer, President Obama has announced that he will not take any executive action on immigration before the November election. The delay is entirely political, the concern being that executive action now may harm the re-election campaigns of a handful of Democratic senators upon whom control of the Senate rests. The announcement is a major blow to immigration advocates who have been leaning heavily on the President to act, believing that there is no clear electoral impact and that immigrant families are in dire need of relief. The delay, combined with the Administration’s directive to expedite the deportations of unaccompanied children at the border, compound the President’s growing dissatisfaction and frustration among Latino voters.