Immigration News 2015: House Speaker Paul Ryan Prefers Legal Status Path, Opposes Trump Mass Deportation Plan
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., is not a believer of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's mass deportation plan.
Since his election to Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ryan said immigration reform will not be considered during the remainder of the 114th Congress and while President Barack Obama remains in office. Despite the opposition on immigration reform, Ryan does say there is hope to find compromise on other issues.
"I think you can oppose the president on some issue that you fundamentally disagree with, but also work with the other party on issues you do agree with. That's what I've been doing," Ryan told CBS News' "60 Minutes." "Look, if we can find common ground, we can on highways, we will on funding the government, hopefully we can on tax policy. Those are three things that will produce certainty in this economy in the next few months. Let's go do that."
Ryan said his immigration plan starts with border security and enforcing the "rule of law." He added that legal immigration "is" America.
Ryan was asked about Trump's mass deportation plan, which calls for the removal of all undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. Trump has said the deported immigrants would have an opportunity to return to the U.S. through legal immigration and waiting as long as current immigrants seeking legal status.
"I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that. I think you could have a pathway to legal status. That's been what I have proposed in the past is a pay -- a way to make amends with the law, effectively go on probation and earn your way to legal status, but not to citizenship," said Ryan.
Ryan added he couldn't imagine how Trump's plan could happen.
Earlier this month, Ryan said he will not introduce immigration reforms due to Obama's immigration executive actions, which saw the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA). Obama first introduced DACA in June 2012, which provides eligible undocumented immigrant youths the opportunity to stay in the U.S. for two renewable years and avoid deportation. DAPA was announced in November 2014, which would give eligible undocumented immigrant parents, who have U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident children, three-year renewable stays. DAPA, however, has yet to be implemented pending lawsuits.
"He (Obama) tried to go it alone, circumventing the legislative process with his executive orders, so that is not on the cards," said Ryan on CBS "Face the Nation" Nov. 1 broadcast. "I think if we reach consensus on how best to achieve border and interior enforcement security, I think that's fine."
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