White House officials are in talks with business leaders that could expand the executive actions Obama plans on immigration, Politico reported Monday. While the main goal of the anticipated amnesty edicts is to allow millions of illegal aliens to remain, work and access benefits in the U.S., now top Obama aides are talking with leaders in big companies like Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, and Accenture, hoping to add changes to get their support.
Senior administration officials have stepped up their engagement with big business over the last month as they prepare a series of executive orders to begin in September. Obama political operatives and Senate Democrats facing voters in red states are increasingly worried about negative public reaction to the amnesty edict Obama has promised Hispanic advocacy groups and others on the left. The Obama aides hope that business support for Obama’s open refusal to enforce immigration laws will mute Republican outrage. They also hope that a series of executive actions rather than one, with some coming after the November elections, will help Democrats politically.
Actions being considered to win business support include allowing spouses of aliens with high-tech visas to work, recapturing green cards that are unused, technical changes in visa applications, and liberalizing the existing agriculture worker program — all with the goal of admitting more foreign workers. “I was encouraged to hear that nothing was off the table,” said Beto Cardenas, a lawyer with the elite Vinson & Elkins law firm that represents many industries in the Houston area.
Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/white-house-immigration-110092.html
Posted 8/19/14 by Andrew Lewis