Immigration changes unlikely whoever becomes President

Fast action on the issue of immigration has been promised by both the Republican and Democratic Presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, should they win the White House in November. Neither is likely to be able to deliver on their promises, thanks to Congress.

Reno’s University of Nevada political science professor, Eric Herzik, says both candidates are raising hopes of change from each side of the political divide but that reality will hit the eventual winner when they try to deal with Congress. Unless either the Democrats or the Republicans also win sweeping majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the politically-divided issue will almost certainly continue to see Congress deadlocked, according to analysts, with lawmakers having avoided the subject almost entirely for the last three years.

Latino studies and political science professor, Louis DeSipio, from Irvine’s University of California, agrees it is unlikely that the new President will be able to get Congress to cooperate with the dramatic changes promised by both candidates.

Clinton has promised to offer a path to US citizenship for some of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States and put an end to immigration policies that result in fractured families. Trump has pledged to construct a wall on the border between the US and Mexico as well ending automatic citizenship for those born in the country, increase deportations and triple the number of agents working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.