Republicans lashed out at President Obama’s decision to delay an immigration executive order until after midterm elections, saying the move is proof that what is coming will be drastic.
“Once again, President Obama is playing political games to protect his liberal friends in November by using sleight of hand to temporarily hide his radical agenda from the American people,” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said. “The president needs to abandon his attempt to issue blanket amnesty by executive order, and instead focus on securing the border as the House already did.”
“Border security is a critical national security issue, and President Obama should stop using immigration as a political tool during election time, and instead work in a bipartisan way to solve this problem and secure the border,” Scalise added. “The decision to delay is a blatant admission that this is not just the wrong policy for the president’s liberal friends, but for the American people.”
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said “it’s not enough for the president to wait until after the election to act on immigration.”
“Under our Constitution, he should wait until Congress passes a law,” Alexander said. “The Founders of our country did not want a king and the American people do not want a president who acts like one. Every voter this November should take into account this shameful presidential trick of delaying action until after the election.”
One candidate already pressing this with voters is former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R), vying to replace Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) in New Hampshire.
“President Obama’s decision to delay executive action to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants until after the election is of little comfort to people like myself who believe in the rule of law,” Brown said in a statement. “Make no mistake: President Obama plans to grant amnesty, it’s just that he will cynically wait until after the election so as not to harm Senate Democrats like Jeanne Shaheen.”
“On illegal immigration and so many other issues, Jeanne Shaheen stands with the president, as she has with his previous executive orders on amnesty,” Brown continued. “Senator Shaheen votes with President Obama 99% of the time. The people of New Hampshire have a choice: they can re-elect Senator Shaheen and send President Obama a blank check, or they can have a real check and balance by supporting me.””
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said the White House’s decision “to delay executive action on immigration until after the election is an open admission that the president intends to take actions that the majority of Americans oppose.”
“This is no surprise, coming from an administration that has avoided accountability and transparency at every turn,” the former Judiciary Committee chairman added. “I continue to urge the president to take measured, legal actions that Americans support to address the surge at our Southern border.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member