Across Arizona, officials on every level of government weighed in the President Obama’s immigration announcement from the White House rose garden. The President announced that he intends to act unilaterally to grant amnesty and maintain a porous border.
President Obama directed the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General to “identify additional administrative actions that can be taken” to complete his agenda. “If Congress will not do their job, at least we can do ours,” the President said.
Governor Jan Brewer:
“Today, President Obama once again played politics and lectured Congress and the American people. Instead of discussing what he is going to do immediately to address the illegal immigration crisis he manufactured, the President offered little more than the predictable rhetoric and blame shifting we have come to expect from this administration. Disturbingly, even though his role is to enforce laws passed by Congress, he once again threatens more executive actions to further thwart the will of Congress.
Rather than take action to secure our border, President Obama makes a hyper-partisan speech to complain that his liberal immigration bill, which would reward illegal aliens with a path to citizenship, has not passed the United States House of Representatives. The illegal immigration crisis plaguing this country currently should be a wake-up call to all: elections have consequences! We are witnessing the terrible results of electing leaders who do not respect or follow the rule of law.
“The lack of support for this bill should not be surprising. The fact remains that Americans demand a secure border. However, rather than heeding this message, the President has spent the past six years steadfastly and deliberately refusing to take any serious steps to truly secure the border. The President acknowledged today that the border is not secure which, not surprisingly, contradicts his previous statements. Consequently, the country is faced with an unprecedented crisis: massive, unending waves of illegal aliens crossing our southern border, overwhelming federal authorities and their ability to enforce the law — all while costing taxpayers billions in the process.
Failing to acknowledge his own role in causing this border surge, the President is now threatening to look for ways to act unilaterally to implement his immigration agenda using executive fiat. Until the President and his fellow congressional Democrats take concrete steps to secure the border and not reward illegal activity, they will continue to fail to earn the trust of the American people, and they will not gain broad support for comprehensive immigration reform.
In the meantime, the American people must demand that immediate action be taken to (i) secure the border by providing the necessary personnel and resources, not bureaucrats, to stop the surge of illegal immigrants into South Texas, (ii) to amend federal law so that illegal aliens obtain expedited deportation hearings, and (iii) stop the flow from the countries of origin by holding these countries accountable, including reexamining federal aid, until they act to stop the flow of illegal immigrants out of or through their countries.”
Rep. Ron Barber (D):
“For far too long, Southern Arizonans have had to contend with drug smugglers and people entering the United States illegally. Border Patrol agents are dedicated to securing our borders and keeping the people I represent safe on their land and in their homes. The recent influx of unaccompanied children entering our country illegally has made a difficult mission even more challenging.
The safety and security of Southern Arizona communities must be given the highest priority as we implement plans to stop the flow of unaccompanied children and others coming to the United States illegally. As I’ve said since day one, we must do this by putting more Border Patrol and other federal law enforcement personnel at the border. Our Border Patrol agents must no longer be tasked with providing childcare to unaccompanied immigrant children. They must be returned to their job of securing the border.
Our state must not bear the expense of this failure of leadership and inaction in Washington. Arizona, towns, cities and agencies must be reimbursed for the services they provide because the federal government has failed to secure our border.”
Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R):
“The President knew in January that the influx of migrant children through our southern border was likely to occur and he did nothing to stop it. His calls for comprehensive immigration reform and amnesty have caused tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to embark on dangerous journeys in hopes to gain unlawful citizenship.
The President stated that after the majority of unaccompanied children go through the legal process they will be deported. Such action should happen in a timely and efficient manner and we should not be spending millions of dollars to detain these individuals in unsanitary facilities.
Had the Supreme Court not recently rebuked the President for his excessive executive overreach, I am concerned he would have gone a lot further with today’s announcement. Based on his statement, though, I am confident he will unilaterally impose additional executive actions on these matters before the end of the summer. The President must stop circumventing Congress in his desire to provide amnesty to illegal immigrants.
The only statement from President Obama’s speech with which I agree is the need to secure our border. The Obama Administration—as well as previous administrations—have utterly failed at this fundamental duty for years now. It should not take a self-imposed crisis to enforce the rule of law and to secure our homeland.”
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D):
“After 18 months of political stonewalling and 12 months of ignoring the bipartisan Senate immigration reform bill, I am glad to see the president is prepared to act where Congressional Republicans refuse,” said Rep. Grijalva. “There are many options available to the president, from extending deferred action to all deserving family members to allowing for prosecutorial discretion on deportations.”
President Obama has directed the Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney General to move available and appropriate enforcement resources to the border. He also directed his team to identify additional actions and send him recommendations by the end of the summer.
While the president’s announcement today is a welcome first step, the success of this effort will depend largely on what comes next,” Grijalva continued. “Sending more enforcement to our borders will do nothing for the men, women and children who are caught up in our broken system. Nor will it provide a humanitarian solution to the crisis of child refugees arriving from Central America. I look forward to the president’s next steps, and urge him to focus his efforts on protecting vulnerable families going forward.”
Rep. Matt Salmon (R):
“Since the President first spoke about his intent to willfully disregard our immigration policy, the conditions at our borders have deteriorated rapidly. The facts speak for themselves.
Our immigration policy isn’t new. For over 40 years, and for better or worse, Americans and immigrants have worked within the confines of our existing system. But since the President’s Rose Garden speech on June 15, 2012, the number of illegal immigrants crossing our borders has more than doubled.
The denial of these facts won’t move things forward. The first step to recovery is acknowledging the problem and the problem our immigration system faces today is failed leadership and the unwillingness of the President to enforce the laws Congress has passed. His threats that he will continue to sidestep the only body charged with making law doesn’t help the process.
Until Congress can be assured that its laws will be faithfully executed, I find it increasingly unlikely that a successful overhaul of our immigration system will be achieved.”