words.
"Obama followed it up by insisting that he wasn’t going to give the undocumented a free pass. This was not “amnesty,” he insisted with a commendably straight face. Those affected—mainly immigrants who have been here for more than five years and have children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents—would have to register with the government, pass a criminal-background check, and pay their taxes, including fines for late payment. In return, they would be allowed to stay in the country and work legally. They wouldn’t get citizenship, or permanent residency, or access to “the same benefits that citizens receive”—i.e., no health-care subsidies—but they would no longer face the threat of being deported. “You can come out of the shadows and get right with the law,” Obama said. “That’s what this deal is.… What I’m describing is accountability—a common-sense, middle-ground approach.”
...Pointing out Republican obstreperousness isn’t a winning strategy on its own, however, and the President knows it. He also needs to persuade the American people that what he is doing is just and right, and in the final part of his speech he once again elevated his argument, by asking a list of rhetorical questions:
'Are we a nation that tolerates the hypocrisy of a system where workers who pick our fruit and make our beds never have a chance to get right with the law? Or are we a nation that gives them a chance to make amends, take responsibility, and give their kids a better future?
Are we a nation that accepts the cruelty of ripping children from their parents’ arms? Or are we a nation that values families, and works together to keep them together? …
That’s what this debate is all about.'"
THE NEW YORKER: Obama Goes Big on Immigration
SEE ALSO:
THE WASHINGTON POST: The Insiders: Republicans shouldn’t overreact to Obama’s immigration order
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Suffer Little Children
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