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The Sunday morning political talk shows kept the spotlight on the President’s surprise change in immigration policy on Friday to give deportation relief to some undocumented immigrant youth. On CNN’s State of the Union, White House senior adviser David Plouff refuted speculation the move was a grab for Latino votes saying, “This is not a political move. This builds on a lot of steps we’ve already taken.” However, GOP Vice Presidential hopeful Senator Marco Rubio has been working on similar legislation, which was expected to attract Latino voters to the GOP, but the President’s directive undercut that effort.

On Friday Senator Rubio reacted immediately to the President’s announcement, calling the action, “A short term answer to a long-term problem. This was repeated by the presumptive Republican nominee for President Mitt Romney yesterday when he appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Romney called for a long-term plan, and he criticized the President for taking action before Congress considered the Rubio legislation. However, he also refused to say whether he would end the directive if elected president.

The criticism that the new immigration policy is a short-term fix is coming from all corners, and one of the first to say it was the President himself. During remarks in the Rose Garden on Friday, Obama called the move a “temporary, stop-gap measure.” He blamed Congress for forcing his hand after Republicans in the Senate refused to pass DREAM Act legislation. He addressed Congress, saying, “[s]end me the Dream Act and put it on my desk and I will sign it right away.”

Undocumented student DREAM Activists and their supporters have lobbied for immigration reform for years welcomed Friday’s news, with caveats. Writing for CultureStrike.net, Michelle Chen addressed advocates on Friday and said, “[t]oday’s announcement offers a bit of respite from a very long nightmare in the government’s immigration gauntlet. But tomorrow morning, it’s back to work.” Unlike the DREAM Act, the new policy offers no path to citizenship

GUEST: Karen Tumlin, Managing Attorney at the National Immigration Law Center

Visit www.nilc.org for more information.