Los Angeles Times (Article by Lisa Mascaro): Opponents of President Obamas decision to allow young illegal immigrants a reprieve to stay in this country are trying to undo that move in Congress.
Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) has introduced the Prohibiting Back-door Amnesty Act of 2012 legislation that would block the presidents action and exposes the ongoing divide in the GOP on immigration issues in an election year.
Quayle said legislation is necessary to prohibit the outrageous edict announced last week by Obama and his Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. The administrative action temporarily stops deportations of young people who are here illegally but are in school or the military and have no criminal record.
"President Obama and Secretary Napolitanos decision to end the enforcement of many of our nations immigration laws is stunning in both its arrogance and shortsightedness," Quayle said in a statement. "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 nations laws will not stand."
What is unclear, though, is if there is any political appetite among Republican leadership for the bill, as the GOP tries to balance the party's mixed messages on immigration. The GOP's conservative flank tends to hew toward strict anti-immigration laws, while other Republican lawmakers have expressed more willingness to allow some illegal immigrants -- especially youths -- who have broken no rules on their own an opportunity to remain in the United States.
Another Republican, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, had been working for months on a bill that would have potentially given young people who were brought to this country illegally as children some sort of special status, as the GOP seeks to improve relations with the increasingly powerful Latino electorate. With Obama's move, Rubio has shelved those efforts.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), acknowledged on Tuesday that Obama's new policy has shifted the immigration debate.
"The president's announcement on immigration is it puts everyone in a difficult position," Boehner said. "I think we all have concerns for those who are caught in this trap, who through no fault of their own are here. But the president's actions are going to make it much more difficult for us to work in a bipartisan way to get to a permanent solution."
Quayle, a freshman and the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, is in a tough GOP primary reelection battle against fellow freshman Rep. David Schweikert in the border state of Arizona.
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