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FILE: July 15, 2013: Demonstrators march against amnesty for illegal immigrants at a rally in Washington, D.C.REUTERS

President Obama and House Republicans appear nowhere close to reaching a near-term compromise on immigration reform, following a conversation Wednesday between the president and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Obama, who supports the comprehensive reform legislation passed last summer with bipartisan support in the Democrat-controlled Senate, accused the House Republicans of repeatedly failing to act on such legislation and appearing to prefer the status quo of a broken immigration system over meaningful reform, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the White House before his conversation with Cantor.

The president argued the Senate plan was a common sense agreement that will grow the economy by $1.4 trillion and reduce the federal deficit while providing a tough but fair pathway to citizenship for roughly 11 million illegal immigrants.

House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team have expressed a desire to pass immigration reform but appear uncertain about whether they can get the votes from rank-and-file members, including a conservative wing that considers granting citizenship to those who came illegally to the United States tantamount to amnesty.

In January, Boehner released a broad plan that included a path to legal status for illegal immigrants. However, the apparent lack of support appears to have shelved the issue until at least after the November elections.

The majority of Americans are ahead of House Republicans on this crucial issue and there is broad support for reform, Obama also said, according to the White House statement. I urge House Republicans to listen to the will of the American people and bring immigration reform to the House floor for a vote.

Cantor released his own statement following Wednesday's conversation, in which he said the House will not consider the Senate bill.

The president called me hours after he issued a partisan statement which attacked me and my fellow House Republicans and which indicated no sincere desire to work together, the Virginia Republican said. After five years, President Obama still has not learned how to effectively work with Congress to get things done. You do not attack the very people you hope to engage in a serious dialogue.

Cantor also said he told Obama the same thing he told him the last time they spoke -- that House Republicans support neither amnesty efforts nor the Senate immigration bill.

See the original post:
Obama, Cantor immigration phone call reveals divide

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Immigration champion Rep. Luis Gutierrez feels confident that President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to push through reform. House Speaker John Boehner feels confident that doing so will tank what little support the President has among Republicans on immigration reform.

They're both right, immigration law experts say.

After pushback from immigration activists and some members of his party, the President has directed his administration to reexamine its deportation policy.

The administration could shift noncriminals and minor offenders to the lowest deportation priorities.

"I think the President has a difficult decision to make here," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell University Law School. "The courts have upheld wide discretion on immigration matters. He could make noncriminals the lowest deportation priorities. ... But there is a penalty he could pay through using executive action rather than waiting for Congress to act on immigration reform."

That political price, Boehner told Fox News last week, is "that will make it almost impossible to ever do immigration reform, because he will spoil the well to the point where no one will trust him by giving him a new law that he will implement the way the Congress intended."

"The American people want us to deal with immigration reform," Boehner said on Fox News' "Kelly File" during the same interview. "But every time the President ignores the law, like the 38 times he has on Obamacare, our members look up and go, 'Wait a minute: You can't have immigration reform without strong border security and internal enforcement. How can we trust the President to actually obey the law and enforce the law that we would write?'"

Legislation stuck in the House

Last year, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform package -- which includes a citizenship path for an estimated 8 million of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Read the original here:
Should Obama use the power of his pen to push immigration reform?

President Obama called House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to prod Republicans to bring up immigration reform, but the conversation apparently did not go well.

Cantor issued a blistering statement afterward, criticizing Obama for calling him just after delivering what he called a partisan statement that indicated no desire to work together on immigration, a top priority for Obama that House Republicans have largely ignored.[READ THE STATEMENT HERE.]

A White House official said Obama had called Cantor to wish him a happy "Passover, and immigration reform then came up.

The official said the White House was suprised by the tone of Cantor's statement, which didn't reflect the call.

Earlieron Wednesday, Obama issued his own statement marking the first anniversary of the introduction of the Senates comprehensive immigration overhaul, which passed on a bipartisan vote last June.

He called out House Republicans for blocking the bill and not taking action on their own proposals for immigration reform.

Unfortunately, Republicans in the House of Representatives have repeatedly failed to take action, seemingly preferring the status quo of a broken immigration system over meaningful reform, Obama said. Instead of advancing commonsense reform and working to fix our immigration system, House Republicans have voted in favor of extreme measures like a punitive amendment to strip protections from Dreamers.

Obama may have called Cantor instead of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) because Boehner has been out of the country on a congressional delegation visit to the Middle East.

Cantors statement is in contrast to what Boehner said after a recent meeting at the White House, where he characterized immigration reform as an area where he and the president were in agreement.

See the article here:
Cantor blasts Obama over phone call on immigration reform

Wednesday, April 16, 2014 - 10:16pm

CNN WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Immigration champion Rep. Luis Gutierrez feels confident that President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to push through reform. House Speaker John Boehner feels confident that doing so will tank what little support the President has among Republicans on immigration reform.

They're both right, immigration law experts say.

After pushback from immigration activists and some members of his party, the President has directed his administration to reexamine its deportation policy.

The administration could shift noncriminals and minor offenders to the lowest deportation priorities.

"I think the President has a difficult decision to make here," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell University Law School. "The courts have upheld wide discretion on immigration matters ... he could make noncriminals the lowest deportation priorities. ... But there is a penalty he could pay through using executive action rather than waiting for Congress to act on immigration reform."

That political price, Boehner told Fox News last week, is "that will make it almost impossible to ever do immigration reform, because he will spoil the well to the point where no one will trust him by giving him a new law that he will implement the way the Congress intended."

"The American people want us to deal with immigration reform," Boehner said on Fox News' "Kelly File" during the same interview. "... But every time the President ignores the law, like the 38 times he has on Obamacare, our members look up and go, 'Wait a minute: You can't have immigration reform without strong border security and internal enforcement, how can we trust the President to actually obey the law and enforce the law that we would write?' "

Legislation stuck in the House

Last year, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform package -- which includes a citizenship path for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country -- with scant Republican support. But that legislation has been stymied in the Republican-controlled House as lawmakers there hammer out more incremental approaches to such things as a path to legalization.

Read more from the original source:
Should Obama use the power of his pen to turn the tide on immigration reform?

By Carrie Dann

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says that he and President Barack Obama clashed Wednesday during a phone conversation about immigration reform.

But the White House has a different story.

One year after the Senate introduced its comprehensive immigration bill, which passed the upper chamber but has not been taken up by the GOP-led House, Obama issued a written statement criticizing Republican leaders for failing to take up the legislation. We have a chance to strengthen our country while upholding our traditions as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants, and I urge House Republicans to listen to the will of the American people and bring immigration reform to the House floor for a vote, he said.

Then Obama called Cantor, who blasted out a statement making clear that he was no fan of Obamas message.

The President called me hours after he issued a partisan statement which attacked me and my fellow House Republicans and which indicated no sincere desire to work together, Cantor said in a statement. After five years, President Obama still has not learned how to effectively work with Congress to get things done. You do not attack the very people you hope to engage in a serious dialogue.

The Virginia Republican reiterated that the House has no intention of taking up the Senates reform bill, which many GOP lawmakers call unfair amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

However, a White House official described the call as pleasant and said they were surprised by how Cantors staff had characterized the exchange. The call was imitated so that the president could wish the House Majority Leader a happy Passover, according to the official.

But Cantors version of the conversation did not mention any well wishes.

I told the President the same thing I told him the last time we spoke, Cantor said. House Republicans do not support Senate Democrats' immigration bill and amnesty efforts, and it will not be considered in the House.

Originally posted here:
Cantor Blasts Obama After Immigration Reform Call