Associated Press
August 28, 2014
WASHINGTON
(AP) — With a self-imposed deadline looming, President Barack Obama
said Thursday he still intends to act on his own to change immigration
policies but stopped
short of reiterating his past vows to act by end of summer.
Obama
raised the slim hope that Congress could take action on a broad
immigration overhaul after the midterm elections in November. He said
that if lawmakers did not pass
an overhaul, "I'm going to do what I can to make sure the system works
better."
But
for the first time since pledging to act by summer's end, he signaled
that such a target date could slip. He said that the administration had
been working to reduce
the flow of unaccompanied minors attempting to cross the border and
noted that the number of apprehensions at the border had fallen in
August.
"Some
of these things do affect time lines and we're just going to be working
through as systematically as possible in order to get this done," he
said in a news conference
where he also addressed Russian aggression in Ukraine and action
against Islamic State militants.
Two
months ago, Obama angrily conceded that the House did not intend to
take up immigration legislation this year and ordered Homeland Security
Secretary Jeh Johnson and
Attorney General Eric Holder to come up with actions the president
could take on his own.
"I
expect their recommendations before the end of summer and I intend to
adopt those recommendations without further delay," he said at the time.
Since
then, the administration was forced to deal with the sharp rise of
young migrants from Central America who were crossing the southwest
border. Obama asked Congress
for $3.7 billion to deal with the flow, a request that Republican
lawmakers rejected.
At
the same time, some Democrats worried that if Obama took action on his
own to reduce deportations it would mobilize Republican voters in hotly
contested Senate races.
Frank
Sharry of the pro-immigrant group America's Voice said there were no
indications the White House planned to delay the announcement, and lots
of evidence Obama is
preparing for an announcement in September.
"If
for whatever reasons they decide to delay, it's going to be a huge
problem for an immigration reform movement that has worked tirelessly
for years and been promised
action for years," Sharry said. "I don't think people are going to take
a delay without a big response."
Obama
said Thursday that addressing the inflow of unaccompanied minors has
not stopped the process of looking into "how do we get a smart
immigration system in place while
we're waiting for Congress to act.
"And
it continues to be my belief that, if I can't see the congressional
action, that I need to do at least what I can in order to make the
system work better."
The
most sweeping, controversial step under consideration involves halting
deportation for millions, a major expansion of a 2012 Obama program that
deferred prosecutions
for those brought here illegally as children.
Roughly half a million people have benefited from that program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
In
a sign of how heated the demands on Obama to act have become, 145
protesters were arrested midday Thursday in front of the White House in
an act of civil disobedience.
Demanding a halt to deportations, protesters draped themselves in
American flags and held signs saying "I am a witness for justice" as
onlookers cheered them on. The U.S. Park Police said the protesters were
charged with blocking the sidewalk.
Republicans
are already hinting they'll consider legal action to thwart what
they've denounced as a violation of the separation of powers. House
Speaker John Boehner,
R-Ohio, in a conference call this month with GOP House members, accused
Obama of "threatening to rewrite our immigration laws unilaterally."
"If
the president fails to faithfully execute the laws of our country, we
will hold him accountable," Boehner said, according to an individual who
participated in the
call.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., predicted Thursday that Congress would not tackle an immigration overhaul before the fall elections.
"There
are too many members of the House that are scared of the tea party, and
they are afraid to death that they won't get the extremist support in
the election," Nelson
told reporters in Orlando, Florida. "There is nothing being done on
immigration until after the election, and probably not until we get a
better sense of where we're going into next year."
The
House has passed legislation to block Obama from expanding DACA and,
through its power of the purse, could attempt to cut off the funds that
would be needed to implement
the expansion. House Republicans could also consider widening or
amending their existing lawsuit against Obama over his health care law, a
case both parties have suggested could be a prelude to impeachment
proceedings.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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