Nom Chompsky
High Tory
Nice way of bribing a certain target market - Hispanics, in this case - to vote Democrat.
Read more: Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama said Friday that his administration would let many young illegal immigrants legally live and work in the U.S., sidestepping Congress after years of stalemate over the nation's immigration policy.
Under the new rules, an estimated 800,000 young people brought to the U.S. as children could apply for work permits and enjoy a safe haven from deportation. Unlike with the Dream Act, a bill backed by Mr. Obama that has stalled in Congress, they wouldn't be eligible for citizenship.
The rules, which Mr. Obama announced Friday from the Rose Garden, may inject a needed jolt of enthusiasm for his campaign among Hispanic voters, who overwhelmingly support him but often turn out in smaller numbers than other groups.
Many Republicans criticized the rules as an amnesty for law breakers, an overreach of administrative authority and an election-year pander to Hispanics.
The new rules may complicate GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's efforts to find a more nuanced position to appeal to Hispanics after a primary campaign in which he said he would veto the Dream Act.
Some Republicans have worked to soften the party's immigration approach, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who is pitching an alternative to the Dream Act that resembles the new Obama policy. But it isn't likely Mr. Romney will want to endorse an approach so close to Mr. Obama's.
The new policy was celebrated by young illegal immigrants and by many Democrats, who said it would provide overdue relief. In Los Angeles, more than 100 students cheered the announcement in front of downtown's federal building, waving signs that said, "Right to Dream."
"These are young people who study in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, they're friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag," Mr. Obama said Friday. "They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper."
Read more: Wall Street Journal