President Obama came to Las Vegas, Nevada, Friday afternoon to promote his plan to grant amnesty to up to 5 million illegal aliens, saying he was forced to act alone because Congress wouldn't.
Greeting him were about 250 protesters on one side of the street and roughly half as many supporters on the other side as his motorcade pulled into Del Sol High School. Both sides carried signs, everything from "We Love Obama" to "Deport Obama" and "No Amnesty!"
"There was some yelling between our side and an Obama supporter but the police separated him," said Robin Hvidston, executive director of We the People Rising, a group based in Orange County, California, that traveled to Las Vegas to protest along with Overpasses for America and other groups. "It was a middle-aged guy who came up and started yelling at us, calling us racist."
Obama arrived at the high school about 12:50 p.m. local time. The protesters were there since morning and the Obama supporters showed up about an hour before the president's arrival, sources on the ground told WND. The two sides were facing off with signs. On a phone line, WND could hear men on loudspeakers shouting, "Impeach Obama!"
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Hvidston said some local people came and joined the protest after seeing a report on the local Fox 5 News affiliate.
"We have a lot of patriots here, a lot of signs, a lot of enthusiasm, and we're just waiting to see him pass by so he can see our signs," Hvidston told WND about 10 minutes before the presidential motorcade pulled into the school. "The students are lined up at the high school waiting to go into the auditorium. Lots of local media and TV coverage. We're directly across the street (from the school) on the public sidewalk."
She said the local police were "very accommodating to freedom of speech."
Signs read "Impeach Obama," "Amnesty Hell NO!" "Stop illegal immigration," and "Deport Illegals, Hire U.S. Workers." One protester distilled his feelings in a single word: "TREASON!"
"So he's going to have quite the welcoming when he gets here," Hvidston said.
Del Sol is a majority Hispanic high school in a fairly affluent area.
"There are Hispanic high schools in other areas of Vegas that are much less affluent and he always comes to this one," Hvidston said, noting the president's previous trip to Del Sol in January 2013. "We're having a lot of support from the motorists passing by. We're getting a few giving us the middle finger, too."
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The pro-Obama crowd was organized by a group called Promise Arizona. Fifteen-year-old Alexander Media, one of 21 high-school students who traveled from Phoenix to be on hand for the signing, told the Las Vegas Sun that the reforms would have a direct effect on his family by allowing his pregnant mother, an illegal immigrant, to remain in the country legally.
"My mother was happy that she won’t have to be afraid anymore,” he told the reporter for the Sun, Danielle McCrea, a freelance writer who, the paper discloses at the end of the article, works as editor of a company that provides software "to help file immigration paperwork."
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Christian Bocardo, a 16-year-old member of Promise Arizona, told the Sun that he and his fellow protesters were pressing the Obama administration for further reforms.
"Yesterday's speech gave us hope, but there’s lots of people who weren’t included," he told the Sun. "Today, we’re hoping to see more."
Esperanza Savela, 39, held a sign saying, "We Love Obama." She said she spent time in Arizona recently, volunteering with organizations that helped the surge of child immigrants.
"There's a lot of Hispanics underground that can't vote, they can't express anything. These changes will definitely make a difference in their lives," Savela told the Sun.
Watch part of Obama's speech delivered Friday at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas:
Sessions takes strong stand
One of the strongest voices to emerge against the president's amnesty plans on Friday was Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
"Better than anyone else, Sessions has drawn the connection between the open-borders movement that is supported by business magnates and those who live in gated communities, and American workers who are already suffering, and whose wages will be driven down by mass immigration of low-skilled workers," reported John Hinderraker in his PowerLine blog. "Which is the whole point, if you are the Chamber of Commerce."
Sessions said President Obama’s executive amnesty "violates the laws Congress has passed in order to create and implement laws Congress has refused to pass. The president is providing an estimated 5 million illegal immigrants with Social Security numbers, photo IDs and work permits – allowing them to now take jobs directly from struggling Americans during a time of record immigration, low wages and high joblessness.
"This amnesty plan was rejected by the American people’s Congress. By refusing to carry out the laws of the United States in order to make his own, the president is endangering our entire constitutional order.
"The president’s plan will apparently also allow many illegal immigrants to receive green cards and become legal permanent residents – meaning they can access almost all U.S. welfare programs, have lifetime work authorization, obtain citizenship, and sponsor foreign relatives to join them in the U.S."
Guatemala leader praises Obama plan as ICE braces for new 'surge'
Meanwhile the president of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina, boasted on Twitter that "More than 100,000 Guatemalans will be able to benefit from President Obama’s executive action," WND reported.
Molina said in December and January his government will be “opening more consulates in the United States to take care of Guatemalans.” That includes making sure they get U.S. passports and that their "fundamental human rights" are respected for however long they remain in the U.S.
Washington Examiner reported that the Obama administration is already preparing for the next wave up to 100,000 illegal immigrants next year. The surge is expected to start in the spring and ICE is adding a new 2,400-bed "family detention center" in Dilley, Texas, to help accommodate the expected arrive of women and children.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is readying its strategy for next year when over 100,000 illegals are expected to flood over the U.S. southern border from Mexico.
ICE said in a statement it hopes illegal immigrants look at what they are doing in building holding facilities like the 2,400-bed center in Dilley and will decide the trip isn’t worth it.
"These facilities help ensure timely and effective removals that comply with our legal and international obligations, while deterring others from taking the dangerous journey and illegally crossing into the United States," said Acting ICE Director Thomas S. Winkowski in the statement posted Nov. 18 on ICE's website.
When Dilley opens in December, it will have 480 beds, but ultimately will hold 2,400, said ICE. It will be among the nation's largest holding center for illegal border-crossers.
"[W]e must be prepared for traditional, seasonal increases in illegal migration. The Dilley facility will provide invaluable surge capacity should apprehensions of adults with children once again surge this spring."
ICE's centers for adults with children "are an effective and humane alternative to maintain family unity as families await the outcome of immigration hearings or return to their home countries. ICE ensures that these residential centers operate in an open environment, which includes medical care, play rooms, social workers, educational services, and access to legal counsel," the statement said.
'Censure' for the president?
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, suggested immigration hawks might push to censure President Obama for issuing the executive orders that he unveiled this evening, reported National Review.
"That would be a direct message to the president," King told a CNN panel, after suggesting the milder rebuke of a bill disapproving of the orders.
“I don’t want to do the last thing. I don’t want to do the I-word. Nobody wants to throw the nation into that kind of turmoil,” King said, while refusing to rule out impeachment.
Nancy Pelosi proposed that the House censure Bill Clinton in 1998 as an alternative to impeachment.