President Barack Obama announced Monday that he plans to take executive action to change deportation policies, declaring that he was done waiting for the House of Representatives to pass an immigration reform bill, the Huffington Post reported. By refocusing resources to border enforcement and looking into changes that can be made to the deportation policy, he said he will now be acting on his own.
"I take executive action only when we have a serious problem, a serious issue and Congress chooses to do nothing," Obama said in remarks from the White House Monday. "And in this situation, the failure of House Republicans to pass a darn bill is bad for our security, it's bad for our economy, and it's bad for our future."
In order to stem a growing tide of undocumented immigrants into the country, Obama will be sending additional resources to the border, and directing his team, including Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Eric Holder, to recommend further executive actions to slow deportations by the end of the summer.
The move was prompted after House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) formally told Obama last week that the House would not vote on immigration reform this year, Obama said. In addition, Boehner also rejected to vote on a comprehensive bill, which would give a path of citizenship to some of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., that was passed by the Senate a year ago. He did, however, say the House would work to address immigration reform in its own way.
The entire controversy plays out against the backdrop of "an unfolding crisis on the Southern border, where unaccompanied Central American children have been showing up by the thousands, fleeing violence at home - an unforeseen development that both sides are trying to use to score political points," ABC News reported. "Obama says the flood of children at the border argues for the need for overhauling immigration laws while Republicans claim Obama's policies caused the problem."
Boehner, who is currently planning a lawsuit against Obama for executive overreach, told him last week that given the distrust of the president, it would be difficult for the House to move forward with the bill. "Until that changes, it is going to be difficult to make progress on this issue," he said. "The crisis at our southern border reminds us all of the critical importance of fixing our broken immigration system. It is sad and disappointing that -- faced with this challenge -- President Obama won't work with us, but is instead intent on going it alone with executive orders that can't and won't fix these problems."
Meanwhile, Obama criticized House Republicans for both failing to pass legislation and objecting his move to make an executive action. "If House Republicans are really concerned about me taking too many executive actions, the best solution to that is to passing bills," he said. "Pass a bill. Solve a problem. Don't just say no on something that everybody agrees needs to be done."
