President Obama has miscalculated again. Once more he announced a reform, only to withdraw it afterward. For now he abstains from using an executive order to grant millions of illegal immigrants the right of residence. By doing that, he wants to increase the chances of all those Democratic candidates hoping to be elected to the Senate in states with a conservative population. If they were to fail, Democrats would also lose the majority in the upper house in Congress.
When viewed in that light, it appears reasonable that Obama wants to refrain from issuing that immigration decree. He does not only disgruntle Latinos, without whose votes he would never have become president to begin with. He also illustrates once again a tactical clumsiness, which is rather alarming. After all, he was the one who raised hopes over and over that he would soon improve the immigrant situation. Back then, he already knew about the Democrats’ situation in Kentucky or Georgia.
Now he has replaced one evil with another and granted the Republicans a political victory during the summer break. This is bitter for immigrants, especially as one fact becomes more and more apparent: No matter who has the majority in the Senate, Congress will not pass a reform any time soon. Despite everything, all they can do is continue to hope for Obama.
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