Shooting for negative numbers in the deportation column. Update to a previous story.
Via The Hill
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will huddle with House Democrats next month in a meeting that’s sure to focus on potential changes to President Obama’s controversial deportation policies.
Obama has asked Johnson to examine ways the agency can implement those policies “more humanely,” and many Democrats are pressing the administration to scale back deportations in the name of keeping immigrant families intact.
The June 10 gathering – a “meet and greet” breakfast with Johnson and Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee – is being framed as an opportunity for members to sit down for the first time with the DHS chief to discuss a range of issues “in a private setting.” But a Democratic aide described Johnson’s deportation analysis as “the natural topic of discussion.”
The Homeland Security panel includes several Democrats representing border districts, including Reps. Filemon Vela (Texas) and Beto O’Rourke (Texas), who are members of the liberal chorus urging Obama to rein in deportations by focusing enforcement efforts on violent criminals and others who pose a threat to the country.
Specifically, the Democrats want the president to expand his deferred action program, which allows qualified undocumented residents who came to the country as youngsters to remain and work without fear of deportation, to a broader swath of immigrants.
“If Congress isn’t going to do anything, the White House should take action on its own,” Vela told The Hill Thursday.
Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), another border-district Democrat on the Homeland Security panel, is fighting a close reelection contest and has remained largely silent on the question of whether Obama should act unilaterally.
The administration’s deportation policies have long been a political headache for Obama, with tensions only increasing as November’s elections inch closer.
On one hand, the president faces intense pressure from Democrats and immigrants rights advocates to rein in deportations, not only as a benefit to immigrant families but also to energize Hispanic voters ahead of the midterms. On the other, Obama is still pushing Republicans to take up comprehensive immigration reform this year, and he’s been careful to allow Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) the political space to move in that direction.
By sidestepping Congress to expand the deferred action program, Obama would lend ammunition to the conservative critics, including Boehner, who say they’re reluctant to reform the immigration system because they simply don’t trust the president to implement the changes fairly.
Boehner on Thursday amplified that message, saying Obama’s track record implementing the Democrats’ 2010 healthcare law has give the Republicans pause.
“When he continues to ignore ObamaCare, his own law, … he reduces the confidence of the American people in his willingness to implement an immigration law the way we would pass it,” Boehner said.