Republicans to Fight Obama on Immigration Plan

By Reuben S. Seguritan

January 01, 2001

As President Obama readies his immigration plan, the GOP is preparing to counter the President’s move. Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said that the Republicans would “fight the president tooth and nail.”

The President’s immigration plan could benefit as many as five million undocumented immigrants in the country. The program is expected to provide deportation relief to parents of children who are U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents as well as parents of DACA beneficiaries. The plan also includes, among others, shifting resources to border security other than focusing on removing immigrants who are already in the country.

The GOP, according to Speaker Boehner, are considering whether to cripple the president’s plans with legal challenges or cancelling their funding. To this end, the GOP, which would control both House and Senate next year, could pass a bill defunding agencies responsible for the relief programs and immigration enforcement.

Congress is also scheduled to pass an omnibus spending bill by December 11, 2014. The measure should fund the government until October 2015; however, House Republicans are considering passing a short-term funding measure that will fund the government only through February next year. This will allow them to pass a bill that will prohibit disbursement of funds on processing of applications and work permits covered by the President’s executive order.

A number of Senate Democrats, including Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said that the president should wait until next year. A Democratic aide explained that if the President holds off until the omnibus spending bill is negotiated, it will increase the chances of Congress passing a measure that will fund the government through the next fiscal year.

Even Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) who supports the President’s immigration plan concurred that the Obama should hold off until after the omnibus spending bill is voted on in December. He, however, shortly changed his position saying in an interview that executive action should be done now.

If Congress passes a short-term funding measure, many believe that a vote on another spending bill early next year could lead to “brinkmanship” such as threats to defund the government that could lead to a government shutdown. The President, however, relies on the word of Mitch McConnell, incoming Senate Majority Leader that Republicans would not be shutting down the government.

Speaker House Boehner, on the other hand, warned “that all options are on the table.” A number of Republicans are also considering impeachment, including Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) who said that he will call for impeachment of the President if he pushes through with his executive action.

Meanwhile, immigrant rights advocates believe that any delay on the part of the President would subject thousands of families to more suffering. Each year, about 400,000 have been deported. With the current enforcement policies in place, Obama has removed more than two million immigrants under his presidency.

America’s Voice Deputy Director Lynn Tramonte said “Every day that there’s no executive action over 1,000 families lose a loved one to deportation. It was not acceptable for them to delay this summer, this fall and certainly would not be acceptable for them to delay any further.”

Senators Harry Reid (D-Nevada), Richard Durbin (D-Illinois), Charles Schumer (D-New York), Patty Murray (D-Washington State), Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), and Michael F. Bennet (D-Colorado) in their support letter to the President said that “Immigrant communities have waited too long for House Republicans to catch up with the American public’s support for comprehensive immigration reform. We strongly support your plan to improve as much of the immigration system as you can within your legal authority…”

Although the opposition from the GOP is mounting, the administration is relying on the support from immigrants which would make Republicans think twice as to their steps to derail his immigration plans.

Any executive order issued by the President can be readily superseded by act of Congress.If Republicans are unwilling to fix the broken immigration system, they should, at the very least, not hinder the President to do what he can within his legal authority to improve it.