Obama's 6-Year Evolution On Immigration In 60 Seconds
— -- It has been a long road to immigration reform -- and quite a transition for President Obama.
It all started during a 2008 town hall with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos.
"I cannot guarantee that it is going to be in the first 100 days," Obama said. "But what I can guarantee is that we will have in the first year an immigration bill that I strongly support and that I'm promoting. And I want to move that forward as quickly as possible."
Six years later, with President Obama set to deliver a prime time address to announce his executive action on immigration, here is a look at how we got here:
April 2009
In response to a question about the one-year deadline Obama says that he saw the "process moving this first year."
June 2009
Obama assigns Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to begin putting together a comprehensive immigration reform framework.
September 2009
Obama says he anticipated "that before the year is out we will have draft legislation, along with sponsors potentially in the House and the Senate who are ready to move this forward, and when we come back next year, that we should be in a position to start acting."
January 2010
“We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system — to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation,” Obama says in his State of the Union address.
Sept 20, 2012
During a September 2012 town hall with Fusion's Jorge Ramos the president is cornered on the lack of action seen in his first term: “You promised that [reform would come in first term] and a promise is a promise. And with all due respect, you didn’t keep that promise,” Ramos said.
“As you remind me, my biggest failure is that we haven’t gotten comprehensive immigration reform done,” Obama responded. “So we’re going to be continuing to work on that. But it’s not for lack of trying or desire.”
February 14, 2013
In a Google Hangout, President Obama says: "The problem is that I’m the president of the United States, I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed."
June 11, 2013
The same day the Senate voted 84 to 15 to bring the so-called “Gang of Eight's” immigration bill to the floor the President comments on how it “isn’t perfect. It’s a compromise. ... And going forward, nobody is going to get everything that they want -- not Democrats, not Republicans, not me. But this is a bill that’s largely consistent with the principles that I and the people on this stage have laid out for common-sense reform.”
June 30,2014
A year since the Senate passed their bill and the House had yet to bring it up for a vote, Obama said: "If Congress will not do their job, at least we can do ours. I expect their recommendations before the end of summer and I intend to adopt those recommendations without further delay."
Sept 6, 2014
The end of the summer was approaching, and still no action had been taken. In an NBC Interview he said: I'm going to act because it's the right thing for the country."
"But it's going to be more sustainable and more effective if the public understands what the facts are on immigration,” he said. And with that the deadline moved.
November 2, 2014
He wasn’t talking immigration, but after a protester interrupted him during a rally for Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, the president gave his first glimpse of his planned executive action.
“Hold on, young lady. Hold on a second. Hold on. Hold on. You're a DREAMer, and I gave you relief administratively, and we're going to work on the next one. The Republicans are blocking immigration reform. That's one more reason why we need a Democratic Senate,” he said. “So I support you. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm with you. And you need to go protest the Republicans. Because I'm not the one blocking it.”
November 5, 2014
The elections had passed and still no action: "What I’m not going to do is just wait," Obama said. "Think it’s fair to say I've shown a lot of patience.”
November 16, 2014
At the G20 Summit in Australia, Obama was asked if his position from 2013 ("I’m not the emperor of the United States") had changed: “Give me a bill that addresses [immigration], and I’ll be the first one to sign it and metaphorically I’ll crumple up whatever executive actions that we take," he said.
