Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Obama Immigration Actions
The Supreme Court is considering legal challege to President Obama's overhual of the nation's immigration laws. This has been his most far reaching executive action since his election in 2008. Many adversaries of President Obama feel he is abusing his authority while others feel he has done nothing to overstep his authority. Do you feel President Obama has overstepped his authority with his immigration laws? How do you think the Supreme Court case will turn out? Could this affect the balance of power between Congress and the president?
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I don't know where I stand on this issue. It is hard enough to take a stance on immigration itself, but then we throw in the question about whether or not laws in this matter are constitutional and the lines blur even farther. We cannot turn a blind eye and shut our doors to those in need, but I can see where the argument that our country simply does not have room for everyone in the world comes from. It is a tough choice. Since the Supreme Court has upheld Obama's healthcare plan twice, I think that it is very possible that the Supreme Court upholds his laws. I do not know a whole lot about the justices themselves and where they have stood in the past in other issues, so I cannot make a firm prediction, but I do not think that it is improbable that they will uphold his stance.
ReplyDeleteI'm very back and forth with this issue; I'm not exacting sure where I stand. It's so hard to take a stance on this topic of immigration that I couldn't be totally against what Obama did or agree with it either. Adding the fact that laws in this matter are constitutional or not is debatable. We can't exclude those who are in need, but I can see that some people may think that there's not enough room in this country for anymore immigrants. It's hard to decide where I stand. Obama had his healthcare laws upheld by the Supreme Court which leads me to believe that the Court is still supporting his decision on laws. I don't have too much knowledge on this topic so I couldn't say whether Obama stepped over the boundaries or not.
ReplyDeleteThis issue is so controversial. Personally, I believe that at times, special circumstances need to be taken into account, such as the Syrian refugees. They are different from people immigrating to the US for a job, etc, they are fleeing from their home to survive. As for illegal immigrants, again, another story. I believe that you can not make a single widespread rule for ALL immigrants to the US; you need to single reasons and groups of people out and come up with individual rules for each. This way, there can be less arguments and more helping those who need it. As for balance between Congress and the President, I believe that having a Congress that is childish and refuses to do anything the Presidents asks to do simply because they are of different parties is completely inexcusable. A change in government is needed and maybe this will be the first step.
ReplyDeleteThe executive branch of our government has truly grown to wield more power than the framers of the Constituion had intended. That fact is hard to debate against. What must be debated however, is whether the extent to which it has grown is legal and positive for our democracy. Not having enough knowledge to comment on the legality of Obama's actions, I will discuss their implications. if Obama's executive actions survive judicial review, the executive branch will win another victory in its ability to act independently of congress. This has positive aspects which include creating a government that can move faster and is less susceptible to congressional logjam. However, it also diminishes the power of congress to check the executive branch. Personally, I believe upholding Congress's ability to check the executive branch is essential to our democracy. Therefore, (because I also support immigration reform) I hope that we can find another way to open our borders to those in need that doesn't involve transferring and exuberant a out of power to the executive branch.
ReplyDeleteI think that the executive branch has gained significantly more power over the years since the beginning of the democracy system we have in place. But then again so has Congress as the government has become responsible for so much more than the founding fathers anticipated. I think it's natural and inevitable that the executive branch will continue to reach, so I'm not really sure if Obama is overstepping or just trying to get something passed that he hopes will help lots of people. I honestly have no idea how the case will turn out... I could see it going either way, but potentially slightly more in the direction of saying Obama DID overstep the boundaries because checks and balances are super important to our government. Yes this decision will definitely affect the balance of power and the way laws/bills come into play.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of immigration is very controversial, and there obviously isn't one straight forward answer to the problem. I agree with Talia that different situations, such as the Syrian refugees or people looking for employment, are going to need different solutions.
ReplyDeleteI think it could be easily argued that Obama did overstep boundaries because he went around the checks and balances system, but in the end, he did it to potentially help many people. A solution needs to be found that helps the most people as possible, while also following the democratic system.
Regardless of one's feelings on immigration, health care, gay rights, or even President Obama himself, I find it difficult to believe that one shouldn't be concerned with ANY president that decides he is going to side step the democratic process of making laws. Republican or Democrat, the President of the United States should be the one person more conscious of his office's role than anyone else. Obama's actions feel as if he does understand procedure, but he's just choosing to ignore it. There's a reason we have certain processes in place. Like we learned in class, sometimes our system of government prevents good from being done quickly, but it also prevents bad from being done quickly. I fear that if Obama sets the precedent that any president can take executive order any time he doesn't want to wait for the system to work the way it's meant to, there will be a president in the future that uses the power to become more of a dictator than a president.
ReplyDeleteWith the legislative branch being so gridlocked when it comes to issues such as this one, it should come as no surprise that the president has decided to go around congress and take action on an issue that requires urgent resolution. I don't blame President Obama for utilizing his executive authority because he has thus far only used it to provide speedy resolution to controversial issues, as well as to take a stand by actually leading the country rather than waiting for the legislative conflict to be resolved. While the argument can certainly be made that he has abused his executive powers, Obama has only used this method to break gridlock and get something done for the people.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very tough issue with good arguments for each side. In my opinion, Obama is making decisions based off of his moral values. He wants to make sure all these immigrants can find safer, more stable lives than they would have if they were back in their native countries. However, from a practical viewpoint, this would not be a wise decision. We have many of our own Americans who are still stuck in poverty and are still homeless or jobless, and we should be paying more attention to them rather than outsiders who weren't supposed to be here in the first place. Still, I'm unsure of what the Supreme Court will rule. They have supported some of Obama's policies in the past, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will support this one. Some would say that Obama kind of cheated through the system of checks of balances, so if this policy is approved, then it will show that the president position in our government may have too much power.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, this issue is almost impossible to pick a side about, because the situation which has brought it on is so convoluted and frustrating. However, I think that there isn't much to argue over the statement that the president has gained more power than the framers of the Constitution had planned. Despite that, we are left to decide whether or not the president's actions were justified, and that is where it gets so difficult to decide. If the president does not choose to overstep his boundaries, then we are left in a deadlock and do not move forward whatsoever. However, then it becomes possible for the president to make an action that is neither in accordance to the public good nor public will. All in all, it will end up being decided by your viewpoint on the action taken, which I think is a good one. Creating essentially five million more workers in the work force is a good thing, as well as helping all of those people to have better lives, which is definitely part of our objective as a nation. However, all in all, I think that a person's view on Obama's actions. However, I think that few would argue that he did use more power than was intended originally.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the court case goes, it would seem, at least looking at how they have reacted in the past, that they will uphold Obama's actions. It is possible that they do not, simply because if they do it sets a scary precedent, but that will have to be seen. In any case I think that the decision will come with a warning to future presidents to be careful of how they use their power, as this definitely will help to determine the relationship between Congress and the president. If they uphold it the president gains a lot of power, but if it is turned down it upholds the old system an dcalls upon Congress to start breaking down party barriers and working together again. It may be better for the future of the nation if they do not uphold his actions, however I think that it would be a shame for the five million people who would then lose a bteter future. In any case, the Supreme Court has a difficult and important decision ahead of them.
As others stated, immigration is a highly controversial issue. While I believe that we should help those in need, the fact of the matter is with this particular issue, many people claiming to be Syrian refugees are actually ISIS members or sympathizers, as we have seen in places such as Paris or Cologne. So I can understand different viewpoints. The executive branch has been gaining a lot of power and I believe that if Obama does win this case, it would show that the President has a lot more power than perhaps initially intended. I don't know the stances and opinions of different justices in the Supreme Court, so I can't say how the case will turn out, but seeing as the American public influences some decisions and many Americans are in favor of accepting immigrants, it may be likely that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the case.
ReplyDeleteObama has already used his executive order privileges once during his terms. He used it to get his Obama Care bill into motion. That was an already very controversial bill and his use of his power to aid it made it even more controversial. Yet again in another similar situation he used his ability to bypass legislation to pass his immigration reform laws. This is being considered just as or maybe even more controversial then his first use of his abilities. I personally believe in the democratic approach to governing and I think the president not only having the power to ignore congress and pass laws, but also using this power repeatedly is a misuse of power. I think it should be as easy as it is to do what he is doing to evade the rules that have been put in place.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama is frustrated with our Government's lack to do anything. We saw this in his recent gun control speech. Congress is currently so deeply divided that laws such as the one's he is pushing would never get passed. Is he overstepping his bounds? Probably. But what else can he do? The balance between Congress and the president is already messed up. Congress has an incredible amount of power that I personally believe is in great misuse. Obama just wants to do something good and it's wrong that he has to fight his own government to do it.
ReplyDeleteAs controversial as laws concerning immigration might be, President Obama should have much more power than Congress when it comes to making these decisions. However, as of recently, Congress has taken much more authority than the president on some decisions and barely compromises with anything the president plans or says, simply because the majority of Congress is of a different political party. There needs to be a serious change with this aspect of our government. As far as the immigration issue goes, I believe that laws definitely need to be reviewed, especially for different immigration situations. Yes, with ISIS and other recent terror attacks, it can be difficult to make immigration laws that protect us but also give others a chance to come into our country. Nevertheless, it certainly can be done, and Congress should not be able to push aside everything the president wants to do due to their own beliefs.
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