“My position hasn’t changed” on using executive authority to address immigration issues.
— Barack Obama on Nov. 16 during a press conference in Australia
President Barack Obama delivered a speech last week that affects millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States.
The decision to act unilaterally without going through Congress is controversial.
But could it also be a change in direction for the Obama administration?
Obama says it is not. The Democratic leader was asked about his immigration plan during his trip to Australia for the G20 Summit on Nov. 16.
Jim Avila of ABC asked, “In 2010, when asked by immigration reform advocates to stop deportations and act alone on providing legal status for the undocumented, you said, ‘I’m president, I’m not king. I can’t do these things just by myself.’ In 2013, you said, ‘I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed.’ Mr. President, what has changed since then?”
Obama replied: “Well, actually, my position hasn’t changed. When I was talking to the advocates, their interest was in me, through executive action, duplicating the legislation that was stalled in Congress. And getting a comprehensive deal of the sort that is in the Senate legislation, for example, does extend beyond my legal authorities. There are certain things I cannot do. There are certain limits to what falls within the realm of prosecutorial discretion in terms of how we apply existing immigration laws.”
First, Obama is revising history. While at one point he used the “I am not a king” line to rebut those who asked why his administration wasn’t doing enough to address a comprehensive immigration overhaul. He continued to use it when asked about more limited uses with his powers.
Second, taking any additional executive actions, no matter how limited, is still a reversal from his positions over the past few years.
Let’s go to the first interview Avila mentions, a 2010 exchange with Eddie Sotelo, a radio host on the Spanish-speaking Univision network.
Sotelo: “Mr. President, you were able to pass a health care plan and you worked a lot for that. And most of my listeners, they haven’t seen that, the same way that you worked for health care for immigration reform. The same effort.”
Obama: “My Cabinet has been working very hard on trying to get it done, but ultimately, I think somebody said the other day, I am president, I am not king. I can’t do these things just by myself. We have a system of government that requires the Congress to work with the executive branch to make it happen. I’m committed to making it happen, but I’ve gotta have some partners to do it.”
The second conversation Avila references was from a Google Hangout town hall that Obama conducted in February 2013. Obama was asked by a participant what he was going to do until immigration legislation was passed “to ensure that more people aren’t being deported and families aren’t being broken apart.”
Obama replied: “This is something that I’ve struggled with throughout my presidency. The problem is that, you know, I’m the president of the United States. I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed, and Congress right now has not changed what I consider to be a broken immigration system.
The question wasn’t a request for “duplicating the legislation that was stalled in Congress,” as Obama characterized it this week. The bipartisan Senate bill involved billions of dollars in border security measures and a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Instead, he was asked what he can do as the chief executive to slow deportations and keep families together, a much more limited request.
A month earlier, Obama was asked why he couldn’t do for an illegal immigrant mother of three what he did for DREAMers.
Obama replied: “I’m not a king. You know, my job as the head of the executive branch ultimately is to carry out the law.”
Obama on Nov. 19 said what he is “going to be laying out is things that I can do with my lawful authority as president to make the system work better.”
That includes a plan to remove the threat of deportation for up to 5 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.
Our ruling
When asked to explain why he suddenly feels he can use executive action to address immigration issues, Obama said, “My position hasn’t changed.”
Obama has been asked about his ability to use his office to change immigration rules in the U.S. in many ways throughout the years. Sometimes, he has been asked broadly, but other times, he was asked about very specific measures, such as not splitting up families or freezing deportations for parents of DREAMers.
In answering those questions, Obama’s position has clearly changed.
We rate the claim False.
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