Impeachable? Here Are 18 Immigration Executive Orders Issued by Recent Republican Presidents
Presidents Eisenhower, Ford, Reagan, Bush and Bush all altered immigration law by executive action, yet none were impeached
Republicans claim that that Pres. Obama’s plan to establish temporary legal status for undocumented immigrants by executive order is illegal. They have issued a series of threats against the president if he signs the order to stand up the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, including blocking the nomination of attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, shutting down the government again and/or impeaching him.
According to a detailed report from the American Immigration Council, however, presidents have routinely altered immigration policies by executive order, including 18 such changes by five recent Republican presidents — Eisenhower, Ford, Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. None of these presidents was threatened with political reprisal for signing the orders, of course.
Here is an overview based on the AIC report:
Pres. Dwight Eisenhower:
1956By executive order, circumvented immigration quotas to allow 900 orphans to join their adoptive families in the U.S.
1956-1958
By executive order, allowed 31,000 Hungarian anti-Soviet insurgents to emigrate.
1959-72
By executive order, allowed 600,000 Cubans fleeing Castro to emigrate. [PDF]
Pres. Gerald Ford:
1975By executive order, allowed 360,000 refugees, mostly from from Vietnam, to emigrate.
1976
By executive order, allowed 14,000 Lebanese nationals to emigrate.
Pres. Ronald Reagan:
1981By executive order, allowed 7,000 Polish anti-Communists to emigrate.
1982
Allowed 15,000-plus Ethiopians to emigrate.
1987
By executive order, rescinded deportation of 200,000 Nicaraguans.
1987
By executive order, deferred deportation of undocumented children of 100,000 families. [JSTOR]
George H.W. Bush:
1989By executive order, deferred deportations of Chinese students.
1989
By executive order, reversed visa denials of 7,000 Soviets, Indochinese.
1990
By executive order, deferred deporations of previously amnestied citizens’ 1.5 million spouses and children.
1991
By executive order, deferred deportation of 2,000 Gulf War evacuees.
1992
By executive order, deferred deportations of 190,000 El Salvadorans.
George W. Bush:
2002By executive order, expedited naturalization for green-card holders who joined military.
2005
By executive order, deferred deportation of students affected by Hurricane Katrina.
2006
By executive order, enabled 1,500 Cuban physicians to seek asylum at US embassies.
2007
By executive order, deferred deportation of 3,600 Liberians.
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