President Obama Delivers Statement on Immigration Reform
Obama is expected to announce plans to “fix as much of our broken immigration system as we can” through executive action, according to a White House official.
Obama will say that Congress’ failure to pass a comprehensive immigration reform measure has worsened problems on the border. White House officials had held out hope until recently that the House might consider some form of immigration legislation and because of that had resisted pressure for executive action on the subject, but Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told Obama last week that the House would not vote this year, the official said.
Obama also plans to announce that Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson will travel to Central America in July to try to enlist regional governments in an effort to reduce the number of children coming across the border from Mexico.
He will ask Johnson and heads of other government departments to report to him by the end of the summer on “steps he can take without Congress but within his existing authorities” to improve the system for deporting people in the country illegally and fix other problematic aspects of the immigration system.
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President Barack Obama said Monday he was starting "a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress," adding that he directed his team to recommend steps he can take this summer and that he would then act on those steps "without delay."Obama said he plans to take executive action on immigration reform after House Speaker John Boehner told him last week the House won't vote on a comprehensive bill this year, a White House official said.
Obama will make a statement on immigration at the White House later Monday to announce some steps, including a request for emergency funds as the United States grapples with a surge of undocumented children and adults crossing the border from Mexico.
According to the official, Obama will order a shift in security resources to border regions and call for additional action he can take "without Congress but within his existing authorities to fix as much of our broken immigration system as we can."
The President also sent Congress a letter asking that legislators work with him on providing additional money and leeway to deal with the situation on the southern border.
On Sunday, an administration official told CNN the money will go to securing appropriate space for the detention of children but also stemming the tide of immigrants.
The government hopes to increase its ability to investigate and dismantle smuggling organizations as well as quickly return children and adults to their home countries if they do not qualify for asylum, according to that official.
So far, the federal government has struggled to process and accommodate the influx of illegal human traffic but specifically the spike in children.
U.S. authorities estimate that between 60,000 to 80,000 children without parents will cross the border this year in what the White House is calling an "immediate humanitarian crisis."
Earlier in June, the White House announced a plan to spend millions in a government-wide response by sending aide to governments in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to help with crime and violence prevention.
In mid-June, Vice President Joe Biden also spoke with leaders in the three countries as well as Mexico about working together to promote security.
Biden's objective was to emphasize that adults arriving with their children in the United States don't meet the requirements for a policy that defers deportation for children brought to the United States before June 15, 2012.
Obama also spoke with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto about the issue and has warned families who see the dangerous trip as the best option for their children.
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Obama Will Take Executive Action To Fix Immigration System
"Obama Will Take Executive Action To Fix Immigration System"
CREDIT: THINKPROGRESS/ ESTHER Y. LEE
During a press conference Tuesday, President Obama said that he would pursue executive steps that he can take without the need of Congressional approval to fix immigration reform. Obama said House Republicans’ refusal to pass immigration reform has led him to adopt changes unilaterally, without further delay.
Obama said that he didn’t want to use administration relief because he preferred to see “permanent fixes” through bipartisan legislation, but criticized House Republicans for failing to “pass a darn bill.” He has ordered Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct the review.
“If House Republicans are really too concerned about me taking too many executive actions, the best solution to that is passing bills,” he explained. “Pass a bill. Solve a problem. Don’t just say no.”
“I’m beginning a new effort to fix as much as I can on my own,” he said. “As a first step, I’m moving available resources to the border. We’re going to refocus our efforts when we can. … I will see what additional actions that my administration can do on our own to fix as much of the immigration system as we can.”
Obama also addressed the unaccompanied child crisis, calling on Congress to authorize a $2 billion emergency fund to stem the influx, such as stepping up deportation efforts and sending more immigration judges to South Texas.
“The problem is that our system is so unclear that folks don’t know what the rules are,” he added. The Republican “argument seems to be that because the system is broken, we shouldn’t make the effort to fix it.
Obama announced that House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told him last week that the House would not move on immigration reform this year, according to the Associated Press. Obama previously ordered a delay for the DHS Secretary Johnson to release a review of the administration’s deportation policies. Obama had hoped that Congress would approve an overhaul on immigration reform, which would provide a permanent pathway to citizenship that would outlast his presidency in a way that an executive action would not.
House Democrats announced last week that they would put pressure on the President to halt deportations and distributed a manual to Congressional members that guides them to intervene with deportation proceedings. Activists have also turned up pressure on Obama, whom they have labeled as the Deporter-In-Chief, to expand his presidential initiative known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which establishes temporary legal presence and a two-year deportation reprieve, to all immigrants who have not committed serious offenses and are not national security risks.
A reporter shouted out at the end of the press conference if the President would expand the DACA program, but the President did not respond.
By some accounts the Obama administration has already authorized more than two million deportations by April.
LOLGOP @LOLGOP
ReplyDeleteFOX NEWS: OBAMA SURRENDERS TO MEXICO
LOLGOP @LOLGOP
ReplyDeleteBoehner: We can't even vote on one immigration reform bill and somehow this is Obama's fault. HE'S THAT POWERFUL.
LOLGOP @LOLGOP
ReplyDeleteRepublicans are going to have to relearn the same lesson of the shutdown on immigration: No one buys that they want immigration reform.
LOLGOP @LOLGOP ·
ReplyDeleteBecome a corporation! They wouldn't dare deport a corporation.
Waiting for Obama to dissolve Congress & The Supreme Court during the next gov't shutdown.
ReplyDeleteNancy Pelosi @NancyPelosi
ReplyDelete.@SpeakerBoehner's failure to allow a vote on immigration reform is an irresponsible abdication of his responsibility to the American people