Josh Earnest, press secretary for the White House announced on Wednesday that they would be “surprised” if Republicans tried to block any executive decision regarding Comprehensive Immigration Reform that will be proposed in the near future. He likened the issue to the government shutdown last year where he contends that nothing if anything was gained regarding Republican political standing. Mr. Earnest refused to comment on whether President Obama would use his veto power to halt spending bills that are contingent on moving the president’s plan for immigration reform forward.
Several Republican Party leaders suggested that they could use the budget process to stop future actions that the White House was considering regarding Immigration Reform. Press Secretary Earnest’s response to this suggestion denied this possibility. In his statement, Earnest said that it would not happen again and that the majority of the Republican Party, including many key constituents have decided not to take that course of action once again. Originally, the White House planned to introduce the Comprehensive Immigration Reform by the end of the summer. However, a decision to hold it in abeyance until after the mid-term elections was made.
Press Secretary Earnest addressed the concern of Immigration Reform activists who fear the White House might again compromise its stance on the issue of Immigration Reform. Earnest assured these concerned parties that this would not happen again and they should not be worried. Earnest went further to say that President Obama’s history and record of support for Immigration Reform should be considered and that we should look forward to an announcement regarding future executive actions before the end of the year. Earnest asserts the reason the President did not make an announcement regarding Immigration Reform prior to election-day, was to circumvent the Republican Party making it a central issue in their campaign efforts. In the event that they would have been successful with their campaign, Earnest contends that the Republican Party could have cited to their opposition to Immigration Reform as central to their success. According to Earnest, the President did not want that scenario to play out.
The immigration system issue has become much more visible now that undocumented children are crossing the southern borders in great numbers. Part of an immigration reform plan must be to deal with these children.