President Obama on Tuesday issued his most forceful call for an overhaul of a “broken immigration system,” urging a largely disinterested Congress to create a path to citizenship for those already living here illegally. Obama’s remarks in El Paso, Texas, were largely devoid of specifics or a timeline for enacting reforms, but served as a political call to action on policies that have little or no support in conservative circles.
The effort also is intended to appease Hispanic voters, who have grown increasingly frustrated by Obama’s failure to deliver on campaign promises to ease the path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now living in the United States and to quell criticism about the record number of deportations occurring on his watch.
Obama argued that the U.S.-Mexico border has never been safer, saying such progress should pave the way for broader reforms that he portrayed as an economic imperative that could net billions of dollars in lost revenue. Congressional Republicans and some Democrats insist that they would not enact other reforms until the border is secure.
“We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement,” he said to a mostly supportive crowd. “But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I suspect there will be those who will try to move the goal posts one more time.”
He later quipped, “Maybe they’ll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat. They’ll never be satisfied.”
Republicans dismissed Obama’s plan as a political stunt, saying he would not have waited two years to visit the border if the issue were important to him.
“It seems President Obama has once again put on his campaigner-in-chief hat,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas. “The president’s push to legalize millions of illegal immigrants is purely political. And even though administration officials like to pretend the border is secure, the reality is that it isn’t.”
Obama is selling immigration reform as an economic initiative, arguing an underground economy that undercuts legitimate competition ultimately harms the middle class.
In broad terms, Obama called for an immigration policy that would secure the borders, punish businesses for using undocumented workers and create a mechanism for those in the country illegally to gain citizenship, a proposal critics dismiss as “amnesty” for lawbreakers.
“They have to admit that they broke the law, pay their taxes, pay a fine and learn English,” Obama said. “And they have to undergo background checks and a lengthy process before they can get in line for legalization.”
Obama also deflected criticism over the pace of deportations — which have reached 400,000 a year during his term — saying his actions stanched the flow of illegal activity between the U.S. and Mexico.
“We are not doing this haphazardly; we are focusing our limited resources on violent offenders and people convicted of crimes; not families, not folks who are just looking to scrape together an income,” he said.
Republicans, however, were not receptive to the message.
“President Obama speaks about our broken immigration system; but what about our broken borders?” Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona said in a joint statement.
