A senior White House official says the implementation of President Obama’s executive order on immigration is “well underway” and that the administration would “proceed” regardless of congressional efforts to block the order.
On a Thursday afternoon conference call with reporters, the official, speaking on background, was asked about the implementation of the order. The officials referred specific questions to the Department of Homeland Security, but added: “Their plans are well underway.”
The official added that the DHS implementation would be “based on what they learned on the successful implementation of DACA,” the acronym for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The department has already secured office space in Arlington, Virginia, and plans on hiring 1,000 employees and contractors to process the qualifying illegal immigrants.
Administration officials also pushed back against the passage in the House of Representatives of a bill to roll back the executive order. “The United States House of Representatives is voting to prioritize of breaking up families,” said an official. The White House issued a veto threat on the bill earlier Thursday.
And asked about efforts by Republicans to block or strip funding from the executive order’s provisions, the White House insisted, “We are going to proceed with implementation.”
