Missing Word from Boehner Group's Proposal: 'Obama'

Missing Word from Boehner Group's Proposal: 'Obama'

The top line recommendations of Speaker John Boehner’s border crisis working group recommendations do not address President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has been widely cited as a key reason the illegal alien children are coming to the U.S. by the tens of thousands, including by the immigrants themselves.

In fact, the press release from Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), the leader of the working group Boehner established to study the issue, does not make any mention of President Obama at all.

It’s a conspicuous omission for the group that matches Boehner’s apparent reticence to take on the President’s executive actions on the issue. For example, while he said he was considering including immigration in a forthcoming lawsuit against Obama’s executive actions, the resolution approving the lawsuit ultimately focused only on Obamacare.

“Despite President Obama having announced his intention to circumvent Congress with sweeping new amnesty orders–reportedly granting work permits to up to 6 million illegal immigrants–the Granger plan makes no mention of the President’s planned nullification strategy,” a Senate GOP aide said.

While many conservatives like Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) or Ted Cruz (R-TX) believe the 2008 law may have some flaws, changing it, they say, won’t address the root cause of the problem: that potential future illegal immigrants are coming into the country illegally because they think they will get amnesty.

“What I’m interested in is fixing the problem,” Cruz said on Fox News Sunday this weekend. “It’s only Washington–all of the proposals being floated are missing the cause of the problem.”

Cruz said the objective should be to end the “magnet” for illegal immigration, which he said is “President Obama’s amnesty.”

Sessions warns that if President Obama moves forward on his reported plans to grant more executive amnesty to millions more illegal aliens, the problem will undoubtedly get worse.

“If Congress simply passes a supplemental spending bill without these preconditions, it is not a question of if the President will suspend more immigration laws, but only how many he will suspend,” Sessions wrote in a letter he hand-delivered to every member of Congress. “Congress cannot surrender to this lawlessness. Acting in defense of Congress, our constituents, and their communities, we must stand firm. This transcends politics. It is about our duty as constitutional officeholders. It is about the solemn oath we all took as Members of Congress.”

The recommendations focus on a law signed in the final days of George W. Bush’s presidency that passed Congress by voice vote as it closed down its work for the year in December. 

“The recommendation to amend the Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act of 2008 is something both parties agree on, and modifications to the law can be done to expedite the process while ensuring proper protections are in place for the children who need them,” Granger said in her release, adding:

We recommend amending the 2008 law so that all unaccompanied minors are treated the same for the purpose of removal. This would be done by requiring unaccompanied minors who do not wish to be voluntarily returned to their home country to remain in Health and Human Services’ custody while they await an expedited immigration court hearing that must promptly occur after they are screened by child welfare officials.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.