USA Today to Obama on Exec Amnesty: 'Don't Do It'

As President Barack Obama considers enacting executive amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, USA Today urged him not to do it, saying it would “set a dangerous precedent” for future presidents to act unilaterally on a host of “significant matters without the assent of Congress.”

After maligning Republicans and reiterating unproven liberal talking points–like Republicans need to pass amnesty to appeal to Hispanic voters–USA Today reiterated that Obama is “thinking about going it alone” by “greatly expanding” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Obama enacted DACA via executive fiat in 2012, which has been responsible for the drastic surge in the number of illegal immigrant juveniles who have been apprehended at the border. 

“Our advice: Don’t do it,” USA Today wrote in a Sunday editorial. “Yes, the intransigence of Republicans in the House is exasperating. Many would vote for the bill, but in the name of party unity, the leadership gave its immigration hard-liners a veto.”

USA Today conceded that “Congress is the only appropriate venue for adopting such sweeping changes in policy” and noted that “Obama himself has said so in the past.”

“An executive order affecting a small segment of children brought here by their parents is one thing,” USA Today emphasized. “A policy shift impacting millions of undocumented workers is quite another.”

Opponents of executive amnesty–like U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Peter Kirsanow–have emphasized that granting work permits to millions of illegal immigrants would only harm American workers, especially black workers on the bottom of the economic ladder.