Obama Loses left Flank by Dithering on Immigrant Deportations

Washington Times

By Stephen Dinan

May 28, 2014

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/28/obama-immigration-decision-delay-angers-both-sides/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

President Obama’s decision to delay unilateral action on halting deportations isn’t earning him points from Republicans, and it is costing him friends on the other side of the debate, with immigration advocates saying it means thousands of immigrants will be kicked out of the country every day.

United We Dream, a group that has been begging for Mr. Obama to halt deportations, said it was “outraged” at the president’s move.

“To say that we can wait is to be complacent with the more than 60,000 deportations that will happen between now and August,” Lorella Praeli, the groups director of policy and advocacy, said in a statement Wednesday morning.

In March, under intense pressure from immigrant-rights groups, Mr. Obama had ordered the Homeland Security Department to come up with ways to halt even more deportations, following on several earlier memos and policies that have already made it unlikely that most illegal immigrants in the interior of the U.S. would be deported.

But late Tuesday the White House leaked word that Mr. Obama had ordered Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to wait until later this summer before presenting his findings. The White House said it wanted to give Republicans in Congress one last chance to take action on its own.

White House press secretary Jay Carney confirmed the move to reporters traveling with Mr. Obama on Wednesday, saying they didn’t want Republicans to use the impending action to halt deportations as “an excuse for not taking action.”

House Republicans said the move was hollow, and they are looking for something more substantive from Mr. Obama if he wants to prove he’s serious about enforcing the laws.

“Enforcing the law as written isn’t a ‘concession’ — it is the president’s solemn responsibility,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner. “Now isn’t the time to be playing politics with immigration enforcement or our national security.”

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com