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On Friday, President Obama made history when he announced that his administration would no longer seek to deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented young people who know the United States as their home.
Under the administration plan, illegal immigrants will be able to avoid deportation if they can prove they were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED or served in the military. They also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed. (via AP/Miami Herald)
This morning I spoke with Dream activist Gaby Pacheco, who’s been at the forefront of the fight since her 2010 1500-mile walk from Miami to Washington DC to bring the plight of the dreamers to the rest of us.
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In hour two, as we do every Monday, I was joined by Crooks & Liars‘ Nicole Belle for a recap of the Sunday talking head show in a segment we call “Fools on the Hill.” Today, she brought us these gems:
Welcome to Right Wing World, where it’s always okay if you’re a Republican.
If you’re a Democratic president you’ll find all numbers of Republicans clutching their pearls over a decision to no longer immediately deport DREAM Act candidates, but when a Republican announces that he has the unilateral power to attack Iran, no one bats an eyelash.
Speaking of that decision, Mitt Romney knows that Barack Obama is the worst president ever, but refuses to tell host Bob Schieffer how he handle immigration differently.
WH advisor David Plouffe tried to explain to George Stephanopoulos that the president is not a dictator (maybe Mitt Romney should be reminded of that too), but that in the face of Congress refusing to do anything, a temporary extension to allow these kids from being deported from the only home they’ve ever known is simply a stop-gap.
But Republicans aren’t buying that. Rick Santorum essentially accused President Obama of breaking his oath of office by not deporting these DREAMers. It’s bad enough that he won’t defend DOMA, now he’s letting these kids stay in the country? Unacceptable.
And God forbid if you point out that Mitt Romney’s plan is essentially to run as a third term of the proven failed policies of George W. Bush. You’re likely to have Karl Rove yell at you.