The Londoner

One of the strangest things about the immigration debate is the fervent belief by conservatives that President Obama is motivated only by devious partisan considerations. Immigration hawk  David Frum  notes, “ the president’s political opponents almost unanimously believe that his act of nullification is motivated by the crassest kind of political calculation. ” (Frum does not endorse this belief among conservatives, he merely passes it on.)  Michael Gerson  — like Frum, a former Bush speechwriter , and unlike Frum, a strong proponent of immigration reform — argues that Obama  “uses undocumented workers in a vast political ploy.” This is a strange belief, first of all, because it fails to recognize the blindingly obvious humanitarian motive that surely supplied much of Obama’s incentive. Obama is a liberal Democrat . Liberal Democrats like immigrants. They want to do something to help the millions of people who have committed a victimless crime in order t...

In all its fury and unanimity , the response from the right over  President Obama ’s decision to change immigration policy without the c onsent of Congress was the manifestation of a major transformation inside the  Tea Party . What started five years ago as a groundswell of conservatives committed to curtailing the reach of the federal government, cutting the deficit and countering the Wall Street wing of the  Republican Party  has become largely an anti-immigration overhaul movement. The politicians, intellectual leaders and activists who consider themselves part of the Tea Party have redirected their energy from fiscal austerity and small government to stopping any changes that would legitimize people who are here illegally, either through granting them citizenship or legal status. “Amnesty for Millions, Tyranny for All,”  declared  The Tea Party Tribune , summing up the indignation among conservatives over  Mr. Obama’s executive action ...

President Barack Obama pleaded quietly for calm in Ferguson , Missouri on Monday night, speaking from the White House as rioters overtook streets in the St. Louis suburb and cable TV broadcasts showed them setting fires and attacking police cars. After members of a grand jury determined that police officer Darren Wilson will not face criminal charges related to the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9, peaceful protests spiraled out of control. Obama spoke to the nation a half-hour later. The president said anger is an 'understandable reaction' from people who believe 'the law is being applied in a discriminatory fashion,' a reference to Wilson being white and Brown being black. 'What we need to do is try to understand them,' Obama said. +9 STUDY IN CONTRAST: 'No drama Obama' pleaded for calm while riots erupted in Ferguson +9 CALM: The taciturn president told the nation that violence won't solve probl...

Since the devastating defeat of his party in the midterm elections, Obama has seemed to be more determined than ever to move forward with his unfulfilled goals. All this offered hope to Democrats who had become disillusioned with Obama for seeming too eager to seek compromise with a Republican Party they feel is hell-bent on obstruction. For too long, many of Obama's supporters believe, he has pushed aside the big issues and adhered to a pragmatic centrism that has damaged his presidency and White House, as well as his party.Within a week, the President announced that the United States and China had agreed to a historic climate change treaty. He made it relatively clear that if the Senate passed the bill authorizing him to make a decision on the Keystone pipeline, he would veto it. He won't have to make the decision, for now, since the Senate voted it down. Then, the President announced he would use his executive power to provide protection to 4-5 million undocumented imm...

President Barack Obama's expansive executive action on immigration is good for the U.S. economy ? just not as good as partnering with Congress on broader reforms. Announced Thursday, the executive order would prevent the deportation of about 4 million parents and guardians who lack the same legal status as their children. By gaining work permits, they will likely command higher wages, move more easily between jobs and boost government tax revenues, according to multiple economic analyses. "This is focused on people who are already in the economy today, who are contributing mightily but are basically operating in the shadows," said Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Their economic potential is being held back." The new order could boost labor income by $6.8 billion, helping to generate 160,000 new jobs and $2.5 billion in additional tax revenues, according to estimates by Hinojosa-Ojeda. The findings dovetail wi...

President Obama’s action to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and grant them work permits opens a new front in the decades-long debate over the scope of presidential authority. Although Mr. Obama is not breaking new ground by using executive powers to carve out a quasi-legal status for certain categories of unauthorized immigrants — the Republican Presidents  Dwight D. Eisenhower ,  Ronald Reagan  and  George H. W. Bush  all did so — his decision will affect as many as five million immigrants, far more than the actions of those presidents. Mr. Obama’s action is also a far more extensive reshaping of the nation’s immigration system. “The magnitude and the formality of it is arguably unprecedented,” said Peter J. Spiro, a Temple University law professor. “It’s fair to say that we have never seen anything quite like this before in terms of the scale.” Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE Obama, Daring Con...