President Obama on Wednesday urged likely Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush to press senior leaders of his party to back comprehensive immigration reform, dismissing GOP claims that the White House scuttled any hope for a legislative solution.
“I appreciate Mr. Bush being concerned about immigration reform. I would suggest that what he do is talk to the speaker of the House and the members of his party,” Obama said in an immigration town hall in Miami hosted by MSNBC and Telemundo. “Even after we passed bipartisan legislation in the Senate, I gave the Republicans a year and a half — a year and a half — to just call the bill. We had the votes. They wouldn’t do it.”
“That’s an excuse,” Obama added of Republicans blaming his executive action sparing millions of illegal immigrants from deportation for the lack of legislation in the GOP-controlled House.
Obama’s trip to Bush’s home turf came as funding for the Department of Homeland Security was just two days away from expiring. Obama’s deportation relief was also put on hold last week by a Texas federal judge, leaving his unilateral action for millions of illegal immigrants in doubt.
Though Bush has supported the idea of comprehensive immigration reform, he has criticized Obama’s use of executive action to overhaul federal policies for choosing whom to deport.
