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GMO labeling votes recounted under careful watch in Jackson County ... Northbound beams being set at I-5's exit 24 tonight ... Two missing Ashland teens planned to run away, police say ... GMO labeling votes recounted under careful watch in Jackson County ... Northbound beams being set at I-5's exit 24 tonight ... Kent Bush: Obama challenges GOP on immigration By Kent Bush More Content Now MailTribune.com By Kent Bush More Content Now Posted Nov. 21, 2014 @ 9:24 am Updated Nov 21, 2014 at 9:54 AM By Kent Bush More Content Now Posted Nov. 21, 2014 @ 9:24 am Updated Nov 21, 2014 at 9:54 AM » Social News Faux the humanity! President Barack Obama has destroyed America… again. We are already pagan homosexual Muslims who have abortions thanks to socialized medicine that he alone created and thrust upon us. Now, Mexicans who entered our country illegally may not even be deported. It is hard to argue with the president’s premise. Immigration is broken. While many say they don’t mind legal immigrants who contribute to society while they are here, just as many hire those who came here illegally knowing that they won’t bother asking for fair wages or benefits from working. They live in the shadows and came here to exploit a system that allows them to do jobs no one here wants to do for pay no American would accept, live in surroundings no American would tolerate and still have enough left over to send back to their families in Mexico or further south to make life better for them too. That is the story of most of the illegal immigrants who came across our southern border without regard for our laws. We look at them with derision, but where is the sanctimony against the millionaire padding his pockets by employing them? Obama went on to tout the bipartisan reform passed in the Senate last year that would have created the “path to citizenship” whereby an immigrant here illegally could sign up, pay a fine, start paying taxes and go to the back of the line waiting to become a citizen. Obama says Republican leaders like John Boehner didn’t allow the bill to even receive a vote in the House of Representatives because he knew it would pass. That might be an overly optimistic assumption, even for a president who is known for hope and change. I think that bill would have helped, but are we seriously being asked to believe that millions of undocumented workers would understand and follow that law as soon as Obama’s magic left-handed automatic pen slashed across the bottom of the page? Fat cats like illegal workers because they are cheap and they don’t have to pay for taxes and workers’ compensation insurance and the full litany of fees and taxes we all pay to employ legal workers. If a young illegal immigrant decides to make things right and take part in the provisions of that Senate bill, he likely goes to the back of two lines – the line to become a citizen and the line to get a job. Once he stops working for $20 a day with no strings attached, his value is gone in this broken system so many on both ends of the spectrum are taking advantage of for personal gain. Thursday night, Obama tipped his hat to opponents with promises to do more to secure the borders and make it easier for graduates and skilled workers to immigrate to America before listing how he would deal with those already here illegally. Obama also nodded to those who point out that some illegal immigrants commit crimes and could be terrorists. Thank God no one born here ever commits crimes or commits acts of terror. But honestly, since we have plenty of homegrown crime, we don’t really need to have others come here to practice their evil deeds. Obama said he wanted to turn enforcement efforts to “Felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mom who’s working hard to provide for her kids. We’ll prioritize, just like law enforcement does every day.” Obama said it was unrealistic to round up and deport millions of people. True. But it is equally unrealistic to expect more than a small percentage of them to risk losing everything they risked everything for already when they came to the country illegally. Obama said his executive order would encourage people to play by the rules. It isn’t citizenship. It isn’t amnesty. “All we’re saying is we’re not going to deport you,” the president said. Well, we already aren’t deporting anyone. The threat of deportation has slightly more teeth than a death sentence in Kansas. Obama stopped short of doing anything to fundamentally change the immigration situation in America — probably because an Executive Order simply can’t accomplish that. Everyone knows about Abe Lincoln’s Emancipation proclamation but it was a few constitutional amendments that really ended slavery. Congress will have to act to make a difference in border security and immigration. That isn’t likely to happen because Republicans own Congress now but the divide between moderate and conservative branches of the GOP on immigration policy is immense. This is nothing but a political football to those who stand against immigration — whether legal or illegal. The nation’s most powerful immigrant, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says he will block all of Obama’s appointments until the order is overturned. These are the same people who churn up their base by swearing to repeal Obamacare and have voted to do so dozens of times without managing to erase the dot over one “i” or uncross one “t” in the process. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach agreed with a caller on talk radio that Obama’s action could lead to an “ethnic cleansing,” and Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn warned that there could be violence in the wake of this action. Anytime you agree with a caller on talk radio, you are taking a risk. Something tells me Kobach and Coburn wouldn’t be upset if their prophecies became realities. Obama simply took action that has to be addressed by the new Republican Congress. They can ignore it and let him win or get into Congress and get to work to do something about it next year. Either way, immigration is no longer something that is talked about ad nauseam without any action ever being taken. Obama basically put the Republicans on notice Thursday night that inaction is no longer going to be a successful strategy. Kent Bush is the publisher of the Butler County Times Gazette in Kansas, and can be reached at [email protected]. By Kent Bush More Content Now MailTribune.com By Kent Bush More Content Now Posted Nov. 21, 2014 @ 9:24 am Updated Nov 21, 2014 at 9:54 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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