Signs and Wonders 06.20

Backdoor amnesty? President Obama issued an executive order last week that changes the way the Department of Homeland Security deals with certain classes of illegal immigrants. The new policy allows up to 800,000 illegal immigrants under age 30 to apply for work authorization if their parents brought them to the United States before they were 16 and they've lived here at least five years, are a student, have a high school diploma or GED, or have served in the military. Many conservatives are calling the rule change "backdoor amnesty." Reps. David Schweikert and Ben Quayle, both Arizona Republicans, filed separate bills Monday to prevent implementation. In fact, Quayle (son of the former vice president) named his legislation the "Preventing Back-door Amnesty Act of 2012." He released a statement that said, "This end-run around Congress was a direct rebuke to the principle of three co-equal branches of government … and more broadly, our entire system of laws. It's time for Congress to send a loud and clear message to the Obama administration that its efforts to circumvent the legislative branch and ignore our nation's laws will not stand."

Evangelicals divided. While we're on the subject of immigration: Just a few days before President Obama made his announcement, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) released a statement signed by more than 100 faith leaders calling for legislatively enacted immigration reforms that help keep families together. But the president's plan divided the group. NAE President Leith Anderson seemed to support President Obama's announcement, calling it "the right thing to do." But Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery criticized it, not because it is "backdoor amnesty," but because it allows young immigrants to stay in the country while their parents are deported. "We are not supporting this announcement," Minnery said. "The first two years Obama had Democratic control of Congress. He promised to fix immigration in his first year and he hasn't done so. It is hard to take the president seriously after that."

Adventure capitalist. Here's another reason the federal government shouldn't be in the banking business: Fisker Automotive. Fisker is an electric carmaker in which the federal government has invested millions. The company went on to run afoul of securities law and is under investigation by at least two regulatory authorities. On Friday, Crain's Chicago Business, citing "a company insider," reported that Fisker founder and CEO Dwight Badger has been canned. Fisker received a $529 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, but when company problems started surfacing, the government suspended the guarantees-though not before $193 million had been delivered to the company.