In an abrupt about-face, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced Thursday that immigration reform would be taken off the table until President Obama can be trusted to execute the laws already on the books.
“There’s widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws,” Boehner said, according to Breitbart News. “And it’s going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes.”
The Senate sent the immigration ball to Boehner’s court after it approved a comprehensive 1,000-plus-page bill in June. The speaker originally said he favored a slow, piecemeal approach — address border security first, then deal with those illegally here in a separate measure. But he’s since been considering comprehensive legislation similar to the Senate’s.
The most recent version the speaker advanced provided a pathway to legal status short of citizenship for the country’s estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, prompting conservative House Republicans to suggest a change in leadership.
“It’s going to require blood if this happens,” one GOP member said, according to Breitbart.
Heated Trey Gowdy makes mincemeat of Obama’s no ‘smidgen of corruption’ statement
The president’s increased willingness to use executive orders in lieu of legislation to implement his pet programs has only aggravated the situation, Boehner said.
“The American people, including many of my members, do not believe that the reform that we’re talking about will be implemented as it was intended to be,” he said. “The president seems to change the health care law on a whim, whenever he likes. Now he’s running around the country telling everyone that he’s going to keep acting on his own. He keeps talking about his phone and his pen. And he’s feeding more distrust about whether he’s committed to the rule of law.”
Conservative pundits have been urging GOP leaders not to approve any immigration bill in 2014 — especially one granting legal status to immigrants.
“Republicans have no obligation to assist the Democrats as they change the country in a way that favors them electorally, particularly when it does great harm to the people already here,” conservative columnist Ann Coulter wrote recently.
Although Boehner’s announcement is welcome news to conservatives, the speaker left the door open for future negotiations.
“I’m going to continue to talk to my members about how to move forward, but the president is going to have to do his part as well,” Boehner said.
Indeed, NumbersUSA, which wants to see immigration numbers fall to pre-1965 levels, isn’t letting down its guard.
“Unfortunately since we know that since the Republican leadership wants to push amnesty…we can’t trust these declarations,” said Rosemary Jenks, the group’s director of government relations, according to Breitbart
Prior to Boehner’s announcement, House members had grown increasingly restless over his earlier plans to move forward on immigration.
“There has been talk among House Members about forcing new leadership elections in the House to include a new speaker if they try to bring an immigration bill to the floor this year,” a senior GOP aide told Breitbart Wednesday.
With the Obama administration’s missteps in recent months, especially the debacle his signature health plan has become, 2014 should be a banner year for the GOP. But any gains would be short-lived if Boehner makes a push for immigration before the midterms.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- ‘Act like a grownup’: Drunk driver sobs when she loses plea deal by coming 4 hours late to court - July 23, 2017
- ‘I would’ve fired her the day I met her’: Glenn Beck reveals more about Tomi Lahren mess - July 23, 2017
- Canadian thug beats 74-year-old cyclist bloody with a club in road rage fit– and they say US is more violent? - July 23, 2017
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
