Thread: Obama denies blame on immigration reform

Obama denies blame on immigration reform


President Obama sought to deflect any blame for stalled immigration reform away from the White House this week, telling supporters that if it fails it will be because congressional Republicans didn't want to address the problem.

White House press secretary Jay Carney says Obama is now trying to "re-energize and reinvigorate" the debate on comprehensive immigration reform, which could include proposals to increase security along the U.S.-Mexican border and provide a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants already living in the United States.

"We're going to keep on fighting for immigration reform because we can't have a nation that forgets its immigrant roots," Obama said at a recent fundraiser. "We can have a nation that is a nation of laws but also a nation of immigrants."

Obama scored big with Hispanic voters in 2008, winning 67 percent of their votes. And while his approval ratings have since fallen to historic lows, he remains fairly popular among Hispanics.

The most recent Gallup Poll shows 54 percent of Hispanic voters approve of the job Obama is doing in office, compared with 82 percent in May of 2009.

Meanwhile, the Hispanic population is growing faster than any other group in the nation.

The demographic now makes up 16.3 percent of the U.S. population, accounting for more than 50 million people nationwide when roughly 12 million illegal immigrants are included, according to the latest Census Bureau numbers.

Latina magazine co-President Galina Espinoza says Hispanics who voted for Obama feel the president has failed them.

"There's a lot of frustration right now," Espinoza said. "This was one of his campaign promises."

The White House blames Congress for the lack of action on immigration reform and says the president supports broad changes in immigration. But unlike President Bush, he hasn't issued his own plan.

Obama points to House passage of the DREAM Act, a measure that would have granted amnesty to some illegal immigrants, as proof that he has a stake in this fight. The legislation passed the Democratic-controlled House in the lame-duck session following the 2010 midterm elections, and then failed in the Senate -- which was also controlled by Democrats.

Now that Republicans control the House, however, some say immigration reform is a pipe dream despite Obama's renewed calls.

"There is absolutely no possibility of that happening, period," said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies. "Even when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress they couldn't pass the DREAM Act."

Krikorian said Obama is revisiting the immigration debate simply to placate Hispanic voters.

"This is purely an exercise of political theater," he said. "[Obama] is trying to sweet-talk people."

Immigration policy expert Allert Brown-Gort says Hispanics' dissatisfaction with Obama will show up in the polls on Election Day 2012.

"The fact remains that this administration not only failed to pass the DREAM Act, it also deported nearly 400,000 people last year -- roughly the size of Cleveland," said Brown-Gort, director of the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies. "This puts in serious doubt, if not the direction of the Latino vote, the effective strength of the support."

hpeterson@washingtonexaminer.com

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/ ... z1KNFOtPSy

President Obama sought to deflect any blame for stalled immigration reform away from the White House this week, telling supporters that if it fails it will be because congressional Republicans didn't want to address the problem.

They want to “address the problem,â€

Is anything ever his fault? Bush did it. Republicans are to blame. Etc, etc.

"We're going to keep on fighting for immigration reform because we can't have a nation that forgets its immigrant roots," Obama said at a recent fundraiser. "We can have a nation that is a nation of laws but also a nation of immigrants."

Obozo you are full of CRAP! Our "Immigrant roots" were all LEGAL immigrants and I would venture to say most Americans have NO problems at all with LEGAL immigrants. It's the illegal invaders we all want gone!

Meanwhile, the Hispanic population is growing faster than any other group in the nation.

That is correct, they are growing rapidly; however, what is not mention is the fact most Hispanics are illegal aliens and cannot vote for anything in this Country. There are far more Americans than illegal aliens and we do not want a immigration reform, which includes citizenship's, we want our Country existing immigration laws enforced and will not accept anything less. We are tired of identity theft, fraud crimes, illegal employment, welfare support and criminal crimes committed by aliens.

Odumbo had 2 years to pass this, with dem majorities in both the house and senate and couldn't get it done. Why is that? Because he knew legalizing illegal aliens is political suicide for his cronies, that's why. The MAJORITY of voters have said HELL NO time and time again. WE want enforcement, deportations and NO path to legal status for lawbreakers!!

What ever happened to representing the American Citizens?

Im sorry I just don't buy it! Mr. President knows darn well that over 60% of Americans are against Amnesty today!

So, the REAL question is what is really going on?

Why make such a fuss over something that you know darn well has no chance in hell to pass?

Well, again I have my tin foil hat on today and will go out on a limb and say that something else is being "Cooked" in the WH Kitchen! And it ain't your favorite Mac & Cheese!

Something is going on that is a lot more important than any IR could ever be, something that must have so little attention paid to it that it slides by the American public basically unoticed!

So, the great 64 thousand dollar question is what is it? Are there some bills just laying in wait to get past in the middle of the night that will catch us all off guard in 6-12 months when they take effect? Will the big guy proclaim some presidential order that will overthrow everything we worked for?

Your guess is as good as mine, just some food for thought....now taking the Tin foil hat off and resuming regular control of your TV......

Respectfully,