There is not much of President Barack Obama's speech on the matter of comprehensive immigration reform that can be criticized. He basically said all of the right things as far as immigrant advocates are concerned. But then again Obama has always been long on rhetoric but short on action, and not just related to the immigration issue. He is not known for walking the talk. Hobbling would be more like it. His comments were laudatory towards immigrants in recognition that "we define ourselves as a nation of immigrants," with the exception of its original inhabitants, the "first Americans," who he acknowledged were indigenous to the land. The president's observation that, "a lot of folks forget that most of us used to be them," was a statement of the obvious.
However, when we review the past four years of Obama enforcement, border and interior, his performance defines him as the "us" and the 1.5 million (1,595,693 to date to be exact) deportees removed by his administration as the "them." This is a divide that President Obama created upon assuming the presidency, no one else. No other president since President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s has deported more migrants and separated more families, than President Obama. This will be his legacy in the history of America no matter how he attempts to repair the damage with his recent initiative.
