The Republican victories in the midterm elections have so significantly shifted the political climate that any plans by President Barack Obama to sign an executive order on immigration would be explosive, said CNN's Candy Crowley.
The network's chief political correspondent made the comments Tuesday night during an election panel hosted by Anderson Cooper, which explored what might be on the president's legislative agenda in the immediate aftermath of the election.
"We don't know what he's going to do executive order-wise on immigration, but if he makes a major move along the lines of what we've been hearing, which is to give some sort of status to keep millions in this country with some sort of special visa, that would be like just popping a grenade and throwing it in the middle of the Senate floor," she said.
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This summer,
the president pledged to "fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own," after immigration reform failed to progress in Congress earlier this year.
In August,
The Washington Post reported that the White House was drawing up plans for an executive order that would grant amnesty to possibly millions of undocumented immigrants, allowing them to avoid deportation and gain green cards.
Just a few weeks ago, speculation about imminent action was fueled when the Department of Homeland Security announced it was seeking materials to produce as many as
34 million green cards and work visas in the coming years.
And the
head of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Leon Rodríguez, also added to the speculation that an executive order would soon be announced after he said, "We're going to be ready," adding, "Our agency will be shouldering the primary responsibility for executing whatever it is."
Last week, the chairman of the Republican National Committee,
Reince Priebus, promised that if the GOP won control of the Senate the party would do "everything we can do to stop" executive amnesty for illegal immigrants.
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