Immigration Reform News: Paul Ryan 'Cannot Trust' Obama on Immigration
Newly-elected House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., made the Sunday media rounds and further iterated that immigration reform will not be on his agenda.
During an appearance on CBS "Face the Nation," Ryan said President Barack Obama can't be trusted with the issue of immigration. The Wisconsin congressman acknowledged Obama's immigration executive actions as an important point to ceasing congressional action for reform.
"I think it would be a ridiculous notion to try and work on an issue like this with a president we simply cannot trust on this issue. He tried to go it alone, circumventing the legislative process with his executive orders, so that is not on the cards," said Ryan for the Sunday morning show. "I think if we reach consensus on how best to achieve border and interior enforcement security, I think that's fine."
The executive orders Ryan referred to are the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA). Obama first introduced DACA in June 2012, which gives eligible undocumented immigrant youths the opportunity to stay in the U.S. for two renewable years and avoid deportation if they meet the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's requirements. DAPA was announced in November 2014, which would give eligible undocumented immigrant parents, who have U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident children, with three-year renewable stays.
With the November 2014 announcement, Obama announced DACA would also become three-year permits instead of two years. Obama's 2014 immigration actions, however, have not been implemented, pending legal action.
Ryan also spoke about the odds of introducing immigration reform on CNN's "State of the Union." He once again explained Obama is at fault.
"Because this president tried to write the law himself; this president went beyond his separation of powers to try and write the law. Presidents don't write laws; Congress writes laws. This president tried to go around Congress to unilaterally write immigration law, so specifically on this issue, you cannot trust this president on this issue so why would we want to pass legislation on a very divisive issue with a president we can't trust on this issue," said Ryan.
Following Ryan's interviews, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hit back at the new House speaker, also taking the opportunity to criticize the Republican presidential candidates.
"For the new Republican Speaker to try to blame President Obama for the broken immigration system is laughable," said DNC Hispanic Media Director Pablo Manriquez. "Three years ago, the [Republican National Committee] said that they would lose another presidential election if they didn't start taking immigration reform seriously."
Manriquez referenced the Senate's "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act" (S. 744) of 2013. Ryan has previously been vocal about S. 744, stating he believes the House can draft its own proposals. Manriquez noted S. 744 would have provided further border security, allow immigrants to undergo a full background check, pay fines and taxes and "get in the back of the line for a path to citizenship."
"Instead their Republican field of presidential candidates have given in to a small minority in the Republican base, including Marco Rubio who fully opposes a path to citizenship at any point during his presidency, Jeb Bush who has twisted himself in knots to use offensive slurs, and Donald Trump who has used some of the ugliest rhetoric to define the Republican position. When you talk about 'untrustworthy' on immigration reform, you're talking about the Republican party through and through," added Manriquez.
Must Read: Latinos, Immigrant Rights Advocates Optimistic on House Speaker Paul Ryan
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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.
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