The Obama administration on Thursday warned that the president would veto a bill designed to nullify his executive action protecting up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
The Office of Management and Budget said the bill sponsored by Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., “would make the broken immigration system worse, not better.”
“By attempting to restrict the administration’s ability to conduct national security and criminal background checks on undocumented immigrants, H.R. 5759 would make the nation’s communities less safe,” OMB added.
The House is expected to vote on the bill Thursday. But the legislation has no chance of moving through the Democrat-led Senate.
Separately, Republicans are uniting behind a budget plan that would fund virtually all of the government through the end of the fiscal year, but provide money to the Department of Homeland Security for just a few months.
Conservatives believe that with a GOP Congress, and without the threat of a government shutdown, Republicans would have more leverage to confront Obama on immigration.
The White House has not issued a veto threat of that funding plan, which would essentially postpone the immigration fight until next year.
However, Obama’s advisers are adamantly opposed to the Yoho bill.
“The bill’s objective is clearly to nullify and block implementation of these executive actions, which would have devastating consequences,” OMB said. “It would lead to the separation of families and prevent additional Dreamers from fully contributing to American life. It would also make it more difficult for immigration officials to conduct background checks, for undocumented workers to help the economy by paying taxes, and for the federal government to focus on removing serious criminals, recent border crossers and other threats.”
