David Axelrod, President Barack Obama’s former senior adviser, said Thursday on Twitter that Obama should pause on executive action on immigration in exchange for a vote on immigration reform in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Obama vowed this summer to reform the U.S. immigration system unilaterally after Congress failed to pass legislation, but then delayed action until after the midterms. He has now pledged to take executive action before the end of the year.
Axelrod noted that the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration reform bill in summer 2013 and suggested the House should be pressured into voting on the bill.
But even the bipartisan bill that passed the Senate has since lost support from even one of its most aggressive lobbyists, Republican Senator and potential 2016 presidential candidate Marco Rubio.
Axelrod’s strategy could put congressional Republicans – who will have a majority in both houses come January – in a bind.
But the New York Times’ editorial board urged Obama to ignore the voices urging Obama to hold off on executive action.
“Do it. Take executive action. Make it big,” the editorial in Friday’s paper reads. “Six fruitless years is time enough for anyone to realize that waiting for Congress to help fix immigration is delusional.”
The editorial board argued that Obama should give temporary protections to a broad group of illegal immigrants, allowing them to live and work “without fear” and instead focusing on violent criminals in the U.S. illegally.
“[This] will boost the economy, undercut labor exploitation and ease the strain on law enforcement,” the editorial reads.
Republicans warned that the President would “poison the well” by taking executive action on the issue, as House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell claimed on Wednesday.
“When you play with matches, you take the risk of burning yourself and he’s going to burn himself if he continues to go down that path,” Boehner said during a Thursday press conference.
Other Republican proponents of immigration reform, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, have urged the President to be patient and give the new Congress a chance on the issue.
