In November of 2014, President Obama enacted a reform to fix a flaw he saw in the United States’ present immigration system. He stated that certain people do cross over American borders legally, while some cross illegally. Some businesses do hire legal immigrants who follow the proper citizenship process to become residents in the United States. Other businesses, however, hire illegal immigrants so they can pay them a lot less than minimum wage—since they are not “on-the-book” or claiming their earnings. Believe it or not, since Obama has taken office, the number of people crossing  over from the southern border has dropped by more than half and the number of people trying to cross the border illegally is at its lowest level since the 1970s. However, last year, sixty-eight Republicans, Democrats, and Independents in the Senate worked on a bill to double the number of patrol agents at the southern border and give undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship if they paid a fine and started paying their taxes. Supporters of this bill claim that this would shrink our deficit and help the economy grow. But, for a year and a half, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives would not allow a yes or no vote to turn this bill into law. Because of this, the President took action to pass immigration reform, which he claims to have the authority to do. However, twenty-four states are battling this executive action, stating that it is unconstitutional.

In the first part of his measure, Obama plans to increase resources for border enforcement personnel and build on what they currently have. This will speed up the return of those who cross over illegally. Secondly, he will make it easier for highly skilled immigrants and students to stay in America and contribute to our economy. He does want to hold illegal immigrants accountable-–but only those who may pose a threat to the country. That is why over the past six years, deportation of criminals is up by eighty percent. The controversial part of this executive action is that Obama would like to keep certain immigrants in the country. Families who crossed over and children who were born here but have undocumented parents would be safe. If an immigrant has been in the country for five years or more, or has kids born here, he or she is safe from deportation. This does not apply to felons, gang members, those who recently crossed the border and those who illegally cross the border in the future. Obama describes those who have been in the country for a long time as “a part of America.”

This action has been described as unconstitutional by many, primarily Republicans and those from the Southern U.S. U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the Southern District of Texas has filed a lawsuit against Obama. He claims this action suspends the immigration laws applied to four million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. This court hearing was scheduled for the ninth of January regarding amnesty to these four undocumented aliens. The U.S. Justice Department is asking the federal judge to postpone his ruling, which temporarily blocks President Obama’s executive action that would protect more than 4 million people in this country from the threat of deportation. Hanen issued the temporary injunction on February 16 as a result of a lawsuit brought by 26 states. Congressional Republicans are threatening to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless Democrats agree to reject the president’s order. The Justice Department says a stay pending appeal is necessary to ensure that the Department of Homeland Security is able to most effectively protect national security, public safety and the integrity of the border.