STATEMENT: CAP President Neera Tanden Reacts to the President’s Executive Action on Immigration

Washington, D.C. — Following President Barack Obama’s announcement today about his plans to take executive actions on immigration that will provide relief to a portion of the country’s undocumented immigrant population, Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:

Today, parents who have lived here for years and had to constantly worry that they could be torn away from their children will no longer have to look over their shoulders. With House Republicans continuing to block immigration reform legislation in Congress, the president is taking a bold step that is fully within his authority to begin fixing the system. A bipartisan group of 11 presidents have taken executive action on immigration 39 times over the past 60 years, and President Obama is joining them.

This action will make the nation safer by focusing enforcement resources on felons instead of families, will generate new tax revenue as immigrants get on the books and earn higher wages, and will mean that 5 million people get a chance to live their lives without the fear of deportation hanging over their heads. As the president has made clear, only Congress can pass immigration reform that fixes a system that we all know is broken, but while it delays, this is the right move to get on the path to a better, stronger nation.

Related resources:

• By the Numbers: Every President Since Eisenhower Has Taken Executive Action on Immigration by Philip E. Wolgin (en español)
• What the President Can Do on Immigration If Congress Fails to Act by Marshall Fitz
• Administrative Action on Immigration Reform: The Fiscal Benefits of Temporary Work Permits by Patrick Oakford (en español)
• How DACA Has Improved the Lives of Undocumented Young People by Zenen Jaimes Pérez (más sobre jovenes indocumentados en español)
• Enforcement Overdrive Has Overloaded the Immigration Courts by Marshall Fitz and Philip E. Wolgin
• The Economic Benefits of Granting Legal Status and Citizenship to Undocumented Immigrants by Robert Lynch and Patrick Oakford

The following CAP experts are also available to discuss the president’s announcement:

• Angela Maria Kelley, Vice President, Immigration Policy
• Marshall Fitz, Director, Immigration Policy
• Vanessa Cárdenas, Vice President, Progress 2050 (English and Spanish)
• Michele L. Jawando, Vice President, Legal Progress
• Sarah Audelo, Policy Director, Generation Progress

For more information, please contact Tanya S. Arditi at [email protected] or 202.741.6258.

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