GOP Senators Accuse Obama Of Abandoning Immigration Enforcement
A group of 22 senators, all but two of whom voted against a Senate-approved immigration reform bill, warned President Barack Obama Thursday in a letter that immigration changes his administration...
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GOP Senators Accuse Obama Of Abandoning Immigration Enforcement - Video
WASHINGTON -- The push-pull of immigration reform is intensifying as Congress prepares to return to work for one of the last few legislative sessions before the midterm elections.
The window for Congress to approve an immigration overhaul is closing, but House Speaker John A. Boehner continues to suggest that action is still possible -- even as he mocked his colleagues who find the hot-button issue too difficult.
"Here's the attitude: Ohhhh. Don't make me do this. Ohhhh. This is too hard," Boehner said, mimicking a whining tone, at an Ohio luncheon, according to the Cincinnati Inquirer.
Boehner is racing the clock this summer, not only against the coming November election but the threat that the White House will take administrative action if Congress fails to act.
President Obama has made it clear that his patience has worn thin as House Republicans dabble in the issue, almost a full year after the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, approved a sweeping bipartisan immigration law overhaul. Obama has directed the Homeland Security Department to review the way immigration laws are handled, and emphasis of that report is expected to fall on curbing deportations.
Obama also faces a time crunch. Advocates for immigrants, including those camped out in front of the White House this month, have tired of administration promises, particularly as deportations have separated families. Labeling Obama the "deporter in chief," as some have done, is not a legacy the president wants to stick.
But here's the rub: Every time the White House threatens executive actions, it drives Republicans further from any compromise with Democrats. Tea-party-aligned Republicans argue that the president would merely pick and chose which parts of new legislation he would enforce.
Twenty-two Republican senators raised the trust argument this week in a later warning Obama against the Homeland Security Department review.
"Our entire constitutional system is threatened," they wrote, "when the executive branch suspends the law at its whim."
Most observers believe that the opportunity for immigration reform during this Congress has long passed, and that this summer will provide a lot of talk but little action.
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Immigration reform at crossroads in Congress amid GOP opposition
(Franciso Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Senator Orrin Hatch joins a group of entrepreneurs and tech leaders for an immigration panel discussion to explain why immigration is important to hi-tech industries. The discussion at Proofpoint Inc., in Draper, Utah on Friday, April 25, 2014, is one of a 12 city tour within two weeks in an effort to keep America's tech sector competitive.
Utah Senator joins high-tech officials in saying they need immigrant talent to expand their operations.
Draper Sen. Orrin Hatch joined a group of Utah entrepreneurs Friday to say immigration reform would actually create more jobs for Americans, and not displace them, by bringing in engineers that local high-tech companies need to expand.
Hatch and former Utah Republican Chairman Stan Lockhart said the right-wing of their party should stop blocking Senate-passed reform in the U.S. House by targeting anyone who speaks out for immigration reform.
"Why would we push people that weve educated who have masters degrees, Ph.D.s out of this country when we clearly have need for them, and they clearly want to stay here?" Hatch said.
He especially is pushing a portion of immigration reform to expand H1B visas for highly educated immigrants. Quotas now limit them to 85,000 a year, and applications exceeded that again this year in the first five days forms were accepted.
Bassam Salem, chief business officer of Midvale-based inContact, said, "We are 620 employees, and we have something like 70 or 80 positions open right now that we cannot fill. We are constantly struggling," and Utah high-tech firms end up shifting around employees because they cannot bring in enough new ones.
Amy Rees Anderson, founder of Rees Capital, said she was forced to be creative to seek workers from other companies. "We would take an RV and park in their parking lots during lunch with a sign that said, Now hiring."
Darren Lee is executive vice president of Proofpoint in Draper, which hosted the event.
He said that while Utah high-tech companies compete fiercely, "There is one unifying thing, and that is a deep belief in the need for reform" on immigration to bring in the talent they need.
MADISON TWP.
The day after the 2012 presidential election, Speaker of the House John Boehner said it was time to deal with immigration reform.
At a Thursday speech to the Middletown Rotary Club in Madison Twp., Boehner said immigration reform has been turned into a political football and called the immigration system in America broken.
He openly mocked fellow House Republicans when asked about immigration at the Rotary Club.
Heres the attitude: Ohhh. Dont make me do this. Ohhh. This is too hard, he whined sarcastically to the crowd.
We get elected to make choices. We get elected to solve problems, and its remarkable to me how many of my colleagues just dont want to, Boehner said. Theyre human; theyre trying to take the path of least resistance. Theyre going to listen to the loudest voices in the building.
Boehner spokeswoman Kara Hauck said the speaker often teases his colleagues.
As the speaker has often said to his colleagues, you only tease the ones you love, she said.
But Boehners teasing drew sharp criticism from opponents of immigration reform who accused the West Chester Twp. Republican of engaging in double-speak. Some even said he has blown any chance of moving immigration legislation forward this year.
Boehners visit to Butler County on Thursday was at the tail end of a week-long swing through the 8th Ohio Congressional District. That tour was preceded by a trip to Afghanistan. It was also less than two weeks before the May 6 partisan primary election where the 12-term congressman faces three opponents: Eric Gurr and Matthew Ashworth, both of Liberty Twp., and J.D. Winteregg, of Troy.
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Boehners immigration remarks draws criticism
Summit County Councilor Dave Ure (R) says immigration reform is "in the best interest of every citizen and of every undocumented immigrant in the United States," and on Wednesday the County Council entered the debate by calling on Congress to pass sensible reform.
The resolution, pushed by Ure, names June 'Immigrant Heritage Month' and explains the importance of immigrants to the fabric of Summit County, emphasizing how crucial reform is for the community.
Before the resolution was passed, Shelly Vebber, an activist for the Latino community, and Glenn Wright, chair of the Summit County Democratic Party, spoke in favor.
"For the last 20 years, I have been a passionate advocate for the immigrant community that supports the economy of Summit County," Vebber said. "I respect the efforts of our immigrant community to work here and to be assimilated into Summit County."
Wright, who 39 years ago worked as a safety engineer for an insurance company in Los Angeles, said he once inspected a garment factory where hundreds of undocumented immigrants worked. He was evaluating a worker's compensation claim and found that there had been only one accident logged in three years. That changed when he looked closer.
"The only person who reported an accident was a legal worker. The entire population of the garment factory had been intimidated into never reporting an accident," Wright said. "[Immigration reform] is something that needs to be done nationwide. I salute you for taking the initiative on this."
Ure, who supports enforcing the United States' border laws with Mexico and opposes granting amnesty to undocumented immigrants, said immigration reform would allow those coming to the country illegally to work legally and contribute to the tax base.
"If the U.S. government really wanted to save money, they would resolve this problem," Ure said. "We are wasting a lot of money on the border. [Reform] would stop people from trying to sneak in across the border."
The Summit County Council passed the resolution on a vote of 5-0.
To view the resolution, visit parkrecord.com and choose this story.
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Council passes immigration reform resolution