[caption id=”attachment_91330″ align=”aligncenter” width=”5073″] FILE – This June 30, 2014 file photo shows President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, pausing while making a statement about immigration reform, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
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The one thing all parties can agree on with regards to immigration policy is that it’s broken. But while President Barack Obama is trying to proclaim that he has the current border crisis under control, other lawmakers aren’t so sure.
Speaking at what he described as one of his “favorite events,” a naturalization ceremony held on July 4th, Obama stressed that he and his administration were “going to keep doing everything I can to make our immigration system smarter and more efficient.”
“We’re going to have to fix our immigration system, which is broken, and pass common sense immigration reform,” he continued. “We shouldn’t be making it harder for the best and the brightest to come here … we should be making it easier.”
Obama’s confidence was echoed by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who appeared on Meet the Press yesterday. Johnson reiterated that the southern border was not open to illegal immigration and that the administration was taking steps to quell the surge of people, largely women and children moving north from South and Central America, telling hosts “I believe we’re going to stem this tide.” Johnson reiterated Obama’s strong stance, saying, “our message to those who come here illegally: Our border is not open to illegal migration.”
An estimated 52,000 unaccompanied children have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border since October, according to NBC News, and more are coming every day. A widely held belief is that the surge of undocumented children is the result of rumors that a change in U.S. immigration policies means any child who crosses the border can stay. But while the Obama administration has publicly dismissed that myth, the U.S. can’t just send the children back. Federal red tape and the recent influx has led overcrowded shelters and thousands of children in flux.
But is Obama really doing everything he can? Lawmakers from both parties beg to differ.
Rep. Paul Labrador (R-ID), who went on Meet the Press after Johnson, offered the show a new slogan, saying that “listening to Secretary Johnson, I kept thinking you just need to change your slogan at the beginning of your show. Instead of ‘If it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press,’ it should be ‘If it’s Sunday, it’s another Obama administration official making stuff up on Meet the Press.’”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry strongly criticized the president on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, saying that the “rule of law” required that the border be secure and that he didn’t “believe [Obama] particularly cares whether or not the border of the United States is secure,” given the lack of effort, focus and resources allocated to the problem.
Even Democrats have been speaking out about the administration’s policies. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D- Texas) said that Obama has been “one step behind” on immigration because the president failed to predict the flood of migrants that have overwhelmed the southern border.
The debate is expected to continue, especially as Obama plans to head to Texas for a fundraiser this week, but does not plan to visit the border.
