By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez said Thursday that President Obama squandered his chance to take the lead on immigration, and said the best role the president can play now is to cheer along the progress in Congress and try to rally support outside the Capitol.
Thousands of immigrant rights activists rallied on the lawn in front of Capitol Hill on Wednesday, saying Hispanic voters delivered for President Obama last year and now want to cash in on his promise to legalize many of the estimated 11 million in the U.S. illegally.
Top House leaders said Tuesday they're inching closer to an immigration deal they can bring to the floor for a vote "in the near term," and political momentum continued to build across the Capitol with Sen. Rand Paul adding his voice to those calling for the GOP to take a softer line on illegal immigration.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee laid out a go-slow approach on immigration Wednesday, saying he doesn't think having President Obama write a bill and demand that Congress vote on it would be successful.
Voting on bills and resolutions is a member of Congress' most basic duty, but only 10 of its current 535 lawmakers represented their constituents on every vote last session.
Two immigrants have gone from illegal to congressional in a matter of months.
President Obama says immigration is his major second-term priority, on par with his push for health care in his first term, according to an interview aired Sunday that continues to boost the issue to the top of the political conversation.
The Obama administration has dramatically changed the composition of those it's deporting now that President Obama's non-deportation policy is in effect, setting an overall record for the number of people kicked out of the U.S. last year.
A big immigration deal is still elusive but Congress is suddenly rushing to take a smaller nibble at the issue, with the House slated to vote on a Republican proposal later this week that would open up tens of thousands of green cards to foreigners who promise to bring their science and technology skills to the U.S.
Democrats broke yet another barrier Wednesday when they invited an illegal immigrant young adult onto the stage at their nominating convention in Charlotte — part of a historic Hispanic outreach program that the party hopes will cement ties to the fast-growing ethnic voting bloc in the country.
Declaring immigration reform a "moral imperative," Mitt Romney on Thursday laid out a broad vision for increasing legal immigration both for businesses and for family reunification, but also vowed to step up border enforcement and complete "a high-tech fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Wading directly into the thorny immigration debate, a key House Republican on Wednesday introduced the GOP's first version of the Dream Act in this Congress in a bill that would give a select group of high-achieving illegal immigrants the chance to become U.S. citizens.
Rep. David Rivera on Wednesday introduced the first Republican version of the Dream Act in this Congress which would give a select group of high-achieving illegal immigrant students the chance to stay and study in the U.S.
Already unhappy with the Obama administration's handling of illegal immigrants in the U.S., liberal lawmakers on Friday asked the government to go even further and make American aid to Mexico based on that country treating immigrants better.
Bowing to pressure from immigrant rights activists, the Obama administration said Thursday that it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria, such as attending school, having family in the military or having primary responsible for other family members' care.
Mr. Gutierrez said the White House should allow the process to play out in the Senate, where negotiators unveiled their bill this week, and in the House, where Mr. Gutierrez is part of a bipartisan group working on what is likely to be a more conservative plan.
Obama told to step aside on reforming immigration; it's Congress' turn, key Democrat says →
Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez said Thursday that President Obama squandered his chance to take the lead on immigration, and said the best role the president can play now is to cheer along the progress in Congress and try to rally support outside the Capitol.
Obama told to step aside on reforming immigration; it's Congress' turn, key Democrat says →
