Like Obama, George W. Bush Let Illegal Immigrants Stay and Work

Conservatives excoriated the president for supposedly abusing his power by protecting some illegal immigrants from deportation. But Bush did the same thing.

When President Barack Obama decided to allow undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children to stay in the country and work, Republicans blew a gasket. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) raised the possibility of impeachment. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) vowed to sue the administration in court to block the move. And Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, accused Obama of putting "partisan politics and illegal immigrants ahead of the rule of law and the American people." The GOP line: Obama went rogue and exceeded his constitutional powers.

Bush officials didn't just embrace the idea that the government can prioritize whom to deport—they expanded it. "The universe of opportunities to exercise prosecutorial discretion is large," Bush immigration adviser William Howard wrote in a 2005 memo. Howard recommended letting people stay in the country when "compelling reasons exist," such as an unauthorized immigrant being a relative of a US servicemember or for "sympathetic humanitarian factors."

The powers Obama exercised in June decision weren't new. They don't grant any of the unauthorized immigrants legal status or citizenship, and it would be a simple matter for a future president to change the rules again and deport the people Obama allowed to stay.

Deportations have risen since Barack Obama became president.