What would my father think of Obama’s executive action?

On Monday, my family and I will attend a ceremony at the White House, where President Obama will posthumously bestow the Presidential Medal of Honor on my late father, Rep. Edward R. Roybal (D-Calif.).  

This ceremony will be an occasion to recall all that my dad achieved in a lifetime of public service, including his three decades in Congress.  Among his many proud accomplishments, in 1941, my father became the first Latino elected to the Los Angeles City Council in the 20th century, and in 1962, the first Mexican-American from California elected to Congress.  Later, he helped to found the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.  The fact that this ceremony and the related tributes to my father’s life come just days after Obama announced new policies on immigration has inspired me to stop and ponder a simple question – “What would my dad make of the President’s immigration actions?” 

{mosads}To find the answer, we have to go to back to 1986, when Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA).  This bill enabled almost 3 million undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows, apply for legal status and eventually earn U.S. citizenship.  However, IRCA wasn’t perfect, and many deserving immigrants — including the spouses and children of individuals who qualified for relief — were left out of this legislation when President Reagan signed it into law.   

To his credit, Reagan recognized the injustice of exposing these family members to deportation, and in 1987, he used his executive powers to grant legal status to most of the children of IRCA-eligible parents and some of the parents’ spouses.  This conscientious effort was expanded by President George H.W. Bush, who gave it a new name, the “Family Fairness” program.  Here’s where my dad comes in – three years later, in 1990, he introduced the Family Fairness Act in Congress to codify Reagan’s sensible initiative.  The bill was eventually passed as part of a broader package of immigration reforms.  This pattern is not uncommon in America’s recent history.  Presidents’ executive actions to improve our immigration system have repeatedly preceded legislative action by Congress.   

As a lifelong champion of the Latino and immigrant communities, my father would applaud Obama’s efforts to protect our country, keep families together, and shield those with deep ties to our nation from deportation.  He would also expect Congress to act responsibly, just as he and his colleagues did 24 years ago, by following up a smart, successful presidential initiative with the passage of a long overdue, bipartisan immigration reform bill.

Roybal-Allard has represented California’s 40^th Congressional District since 1993. She sits on the Appropriations Committee.