Obama done waiting for House Republicans to act on immigration reform

Tired of waiting for House Republicans to act on immigration reform, President Barack Obama said Monday he is ready to act on his own.

He directed Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and the Attorney General Eric Holder to appropriate resources to increase border security. He also gave Johnson and Holder until the end of the summer to identify additional actions the administration can take “to do what Congress refuses to do and fix as much of our immigration system as we can.”

“I take executive action only when we have a serious problem, a serious issue and Congress chooses to do nothing,” Obama said, speaking in the White House Rose Garden. “And in this situation, the failure of House Republicans to pass a darn bill is bad for our security, it’s bad for our economy and it’s bad for our future.”

SEE ALSO: One year after Senate passage: How immigration reform slowly died

A few weeks ago, Obama asked Johnson to hold off on completing a review of the administration’s deportation policies until the end of the summer to give House Republicans more time to take action on immigration reform. But according to the White House, House Speaker John Boehner told Obama last week that House Republicans will continue to block a vote on immigration reform this year, inciting Obama to act on his own.

“If Congress will not do their job, at least we can do ours,” the president said.

In a statement, Boehner’s office confirmed the conversation and said the speaker told Obama: “The American people and their elected officials don’t trust him to enforce the law as written. Until that changes, it is going to be difficult to make progress on this issue.”

During his remarks in the Rose Garden, Obama repeatedly criticized House Republicans for their inaction on immigration reform. At one point he accused them of using the recent influx of unaccompanied minors — many of whom are fleeing poverty and gang violence in their native countries — as the “newest excuse to do nothing” on immigration reform.

But Boehner and other House Republicans have argued it is Obama’s previous executive orders — like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals for undocumented youth — that have “led directly to the humanitarian crisis along the southern border.”

“The crisis at our southern border reminds us all of the critical importance of fixing our broken immigration system,” Boehner stated Monday. “It is sad and disappointing that — faced with this challenge — President Obama won’t work with us, but is instead intent on going it alone with executive orders that can’t and won’t fix these problems.”

SEE ALSO: Obama wants to speed removal of unaccompanied minors

While Republicans mostly condemned Obama for announcing he intends to pursue administrative action in the absence of immigration reform, Democrats and supporters of immigration reform applauded Obama.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a longtime advocate of immigration reform, said in a statement: “The antidote for do-nothingism is doing something and the President is doing for the American people what the Republican-controlled Congress refused to do. This is the President I voted for.”

Gutierrez also noted that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has already submitted a list of actions Obama can take under current law “to add some rationality to our irrational immigration system.” Among those recommended actions is expanding the DACA program to benefit more undocumented immigrants.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement that Obama “is right to protect families from being torn apart” given that Boehner has refused to take up immigration reform legislation.

“Speaker Boehner is out of excuses and his failure of leadership is enormous,” Reid stated. “Our broken immigration system is one of the biggest challenges we face as a nation and Speaker Boehner knows that addressing it is the right thing to do, yet the Tea Party spooked him into cowering in a corner.”

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network, one of the groups that has been pressuring Obama to stem deportations and offer administrative relief, also commended Obama for his decision to pursue administrative action.

“This is a pivotal moment in the movement for migrant rights,” stated Pablo Alvarado, executive director of NDLON. “What comes next will be defining moment for the President and for the country.”

SEE ALSO: Boehner’s lawsuit against Obama seeks to stall immigration reform