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More than two dozen members of the Republican Governors Association gathered this week in Boca Raton, Fla., to talk about policy issues and bask in their success after the recent midterm election.

Under New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's chairmanship, the RGA spent $130 million and achieved remarkable success at the polls: All but two Republican governors running for re-election won. And the GOP even won governors' races in deep blue states like Illinois, Massachusetts and Maryland.

Their message? Republican governors are putting conservative principles into practice in their states, and they won't allow their party to be defined by what they call "the dysfunction in Washington."

Yet even before the governors held their first news conference, they found themselves once again responding to news from Washington.

In this case, it was President Obama's executive action on immigration. At news conferences, and at a Wednesday afternoon panel moderated by NBC's Chuck Todd, governors were pressed for their views on Obama's action, on immigration, and on how they would handle the millions of undocumented immigrants currently here.

Louisiana's Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin's Scott Walker bristled at Todd's repeated questions on immigration. "Scott's tried. I've tried," Jindal said. "I'd like to talk about energy. I'd like to talk about education."

Walker maintains that while immigration may be important, it was not an issue that came up in his campaign or in many other states. Walker said of immigration, "If you went out on the campaign trail with us, none of us heard this issue in our races. And I dare say it probably wasn't one of the top issues in most United States Senate or House races out there."

If immigration didn't rank as a top issue in most governors' races, it does with a group that's growing in importance in the U.S. — Hispanics. A recent Gallup poll shows immigration ranks as the second most important issue among Hispanics after the economy.

At the conference in Boca Raton this week, Ohio Gov. John Kasich said, "It's a cool time to be a Republican. I think young people are back looking at us again. We lost them for a while, but I think they're back. In my state, we're seeing minorities now voting Republican."

But how Republicans respond to Obama's moves on immigration may affect how Hispanics feel about the GOP.

In Texas, California, Florida and other states where Hispanics are an important voting bloc, it's likely to continue as an important issue going into 2016 — when Jindal, Walker, Kasich and other governors are considering running for president.

republican governors

Immigration

Republicans

One voice chiming in against President Obama's expected immigration announcement is Rep. Raul Labrador, a Republican from Idaho.

Labrador is backed by the Tea Party, part of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, and a former immigration lawyer who represented undocumented residents fighting deportation.

He spoke with NPR's Melissa Block ahead of the president's speech, in which Obama is set to announce executive action granting temporary relief to some of the more than 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

Interview Highlights

On how he feels Republicans should respond to the president's action

The first thing we need to explain to the American people is that this is illegal. And the president has been saying for three years that he did not have the authority to do this and all of a sudden in the last year he decided that he did have the authority. So the question is, when did he change his opinion?

On some GOP calls for President Obama to be impeached over immigration action

You know, I don't think too many people are bringing up the impeachment issue. I think there are other avenues we can take.

The question is, is the president willing to shut down the government so he can commit an illegal act? [We] don't want to shut down the government; there's no Republican that wants to do that in my opinion. Now we need to put everything on the table, and there's a lot of different avenues that we can take.

On other avenues Republicans can take

Well one of the things, I think, is Mitch McConnell should say first thing tomorrow morning that he will not allow any appointments that this administration has made. So there will be no hearings on the new attorney general, there will be no hearing on judges, there will be no hearing on anything this president wants and that he needs. I think that would be one action that we can take immediately.

I think we can look at funding, different agencies, different things, we could look at that. We can do something procedural. We can ask the president to have a comment a period before something like this major change happens. I think we can do that through asking for an administrative procedures act, put that in some sort of funding bill. That would have nothing to do with funding, that wouldn't shut down the government.

We would just be telling the president that before he takes an action like this, he has to go to the American people and ask them what they think about it just like we do with any other type of executive action.

On how his experience as an immigration attorney informs his view

Most everyone I met want to come here because they love this country, they think that there's better opportunities for themselves and their families. But the reality is the reason they're leaving the countries that they're leaving is because those countries are places where the rule of law is not supreme. Where they know that one prosecutor in one city or one sheriff in one city can interpret the same law a different way than somebody else does. That's exactly what's happening here. And that's what I think is the most shameful. We don't want to change the character of this nation, and I think actions like this, whether it's a Republican president or a Democratic president, actions like this make our country less strong.

President Obama is set to announce executive action tonight, granting temporary relief to some of the nearly 12 million immigrants who are living in the United States illegally. Here's what we know so far:

1. What kind of relief is the president offering?

Obama's move lifts the threat of deportation — at least temporarily. But it does not provide the full path to citizenship as envisioned under a comprehensive immigration bill.

2. Who is eligible for relief?

There are two main groups:

Parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents (green card holders) of the U.S. for at least five years. The Migration Policy Institute estimates there are some 3.7 million unauthorized immigrants who meet those criteria.

Also, an expanded group of people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. This group now includes anyone who arrived in the U.S. before Jan. 1, 2010, and who is under the age of 16. (Obama had already granted relief under a 2012 policy known as DACA to those who arrived before June 15, 2007, and were not yet 31 years old.) Lifting the upper age limit and pushing back the arrival deadline provides relief to an estimated 290,000 additional people, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Granting relief to these two groups will still leave millions of undocumented immigrants for authorities to focus their attention on. The administration will be issuing new guidance, reiterating that scarce deportation resources should be used for those who pose a threat or break the law, not people who have become part of the fabric of society.

3. Will immigrants eligible for relief under this plan be allowed to work?

In most cases, yes.

4. Can they collect Social Security, Medicare or other government benefits?

Immigrants covered under this program will receive valid Social Security numbers. But that will not make them eligible to claim retirement benefits. They are also ineligible for insurance subsidies and other benefits under the Affordable Care Act, which explicitly excludes immigrants who entered the country illegally. And they are not required to carry health insurance under the ACA's "individual mandate."

Immigrants granted temporary status under the Administration's earlier DACA policy are generally NOT eligible for food stamps (formally known as SNAP benefits). Medicaid eligibility varies by state. Hospitals in every state already offer labor and delivery services, regardless of immigration status.

5. What about driver's licenses? Or discounted, in-state tuition at public universities?

Those decisions are made at the state level and are not necessarily tied to federal policy. For example, the National Immigration Law Center cites at least 10 states that already allow immigrants to apply for driver's licenses, regardless of their legal status. Conversely, two states — Arizona and Nebraska — continue to deny licenses to immigrants who were granted temporary legal status under DACA.

6. Why is President Obama taking this action now?

Obama says he would prefer to see Congress pass a comprehensive immigration bill, which would go further and be more permanent than this executive action. But the bipartisan bill that passed the Senate in 2013 has languished in the House for nearly a year and a half. Obama says that delay has been costly both to the economy and to those who live in fear that they or a loved one may be deported.

7. Republicans have warned Obama not to take this action on his own, saying it will "poison the well" for future cooperation. What recourse do the president's congressional critics have?

Republican lawmakers argue that the president is overstepping his authority. Obama himself took the same position last year, when he told immigration advocates, "The problem is that I'm the president of the United States. I'm not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed." But the White House counsel and other legal experts say Obama is acting within his power to set priorities in how immigration laws are enforced. As a practical matter, the courts have generally been reluctant to intervene in turf battles between Congress and the White House. Lawmakers could try to limit the president's action, using their power over the government's purse strings. But it won't be easy. The relief will be administered primarily through the Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, which is self-funded through application fees and does not rely on annual appropriations from Congress.

The request was forwarded to me from a distant (fifth floor — I'm on four) division of NPR.

It came from Justin Lucas, the head of NPR's Audience and Community Relations team. He's the go-to person here for requests from listeners, for information or permissions.

He'd gotten a letter from Beth Hansen, owner of Soup and Salad, a small sandwich shop in Easton, Md., a charming old town on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

Justin read me an excerpt of the request: "I'd love to make and sell Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Chutney. A portion of the proceeds..."

"Wait, she says chutney?" I ask.

"Yes, she says chutney."

Susan Stamberg's Cranberry Relish Tradition

Mrs. Stamberg's Relish Goes To Washington

"It's a relish," I correct.

"Fair point," says Lucas. Anyway, "a portion of the proceeds will go to either NPR or our local NPR station. Please let me know the terms under which you would allow this. Thank you very much."

Well, this is too much!

Beth Hansen is writing about a recipe, which I have read on NPR for the past 127 years: a venerable Thanksgiving recipe from my late mother-in-law for a tart relish with cranberries, sour cream, sugar, onion and horseradish — a recipe which sounds terrible, but tastes terrific (even though it does end up the color of Pepto Bismol).

Anyway, Justin says, I'm the one to give permission. So I call her.

Hansen tells me there are lots of NPR listeners in Delmarva (where Delaware, Maryland and Virginia make a pretty peninsula) who are curious about the recipe, but don't want to actually make it. She figures if she makes it, they'll want to try it.

"So can we do it?" she asks.

"Well," I say, "I'm kinda picky about that recipe. I mean, Americans can make it when I do it on the radio, but ... you're not very far from where I am in Washington, D.C. I think I'd need to come and inspect your sandwich shop and see the kind of operation you've got."

Beth Hansen's sign for Susan Stamberg when she visited the Amish Farmers Market. Jackie Judd/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Jackie Judd/NPR

"That would be fabulous!" says Beth.

She explains how to get to her food stand in the Amish Farmer's Market.

"You were asking what our terms might be," I say. "You know we have no terms, to tell you the truth, Miss Hansen. But this inspection will be very important — just to make sure it's the proper venue."

It turned out it was the weekend of the Waterfowl Festival in Easton, a lively celebration of hunting season in Delmarva. But the only geese we see in town are carved in plastic, and bleep from a boombox, hidden behind some bales of hay.

Now, like you, I have attitudes about hunting. And guns. I like big dogs and decoys and not great paintings of ducks and geese and sunny streets full of families and food stalls.

But I need to go out of town a bit, to find the would-be cranberry lady.

I was expecting some outside tents and little tables set up under it, but that's not what I found.

The Amish Country Farmers Market is supermarket-size and immaculate, with vendors in straw hats, long beards, the women in simple dresses and tidy white caps, selling everything from chicken breasts and salad dressing to knitted mittens and handmade furniture.

There are lots of eating areas all around with tables and chairs. At 9 a.m., there's quite a line at the all-you-can-eat $7 breakfast buffet.

Delmarva native Mark Weaver is fixing himself a plate. "I started with the potatoes. You gotta have your starch. And then my scrapple. Then, after that, we're gonna get a little bit of bacon," he says. "I'll grab a biscuit and I'll make a little biscuits and gravy."

At this point I am in need of Beth Hansen's Soup and Salad. Where is she? I stroll the aisles, searching.

I spot a sign: "Welcome Susan Stamberg of NPR, the relish is back here."

And there's the food stand. Beth is tall and smiling, gray hair, and friendly, if a bit nervous.

"We want to know if we're worthy to serve the cranberry relish," she says.

Susan Stamberg's Cranberry Relish Tradition

Susan Stamberg's Other Favorite Holiday Cranberry Dish

Her soup looks good: "We have potato leek, vegetable beef, crab and chicken noodle." It smells great and the salad fixings are so fresh they sparkle.

"You know, I didn't bring my white gloves for the inspection tour to see if you would be worthy to sell this time-honored recipe," I say.

But the stand is really nice and nestled carefully in a bed of ice, what's on display but containers of cranberry relish.

Pink cranberry relish. My cranberry relish.

Beth opens a container. "OK, this is the big moment," she says, "Are we worthy?"

"It's a little pale," I say. "It's supposed to be more of a Pepto Bismol color."

She hands me a spoon. Slowly and carefully I take a taste.

"This is perfect," I say. She gasps.

"Perfect! We got perfect?!"

It could use a little more horseradish, but who am I to quibble. Another bite, a grin, and Beth Hansen gets the Stamberg Family Seal of Approval.

A tangy way to say Happy Thanksgiving, to her and you.

cranberry relish

Thanksgiving