Obama delays executive action on immigration until after elections

After promising to take executive action to reshape the nation’s immigration system by the end of the summer, President Barack Obama has now decided to delay any action until after the November elections.

Obama promised to take executive action on immigration while standing in the Rose Garden of the White House on June 30. He said he was tired of waiting for House Republicans to act on immigration reform and wanted to take matters into his own hands.

SEE ALSO: Obama done waiting for House Republicans to act on immigration reform

But on Saturday, White House officials told several media outlets that Obama would delay any action.

“Because of the Republicans’ extreme politicization of this issue, the president believes it would be harmful to the policy itself and to the long-term prospects for comprehensive immigration reform to announce administrative action before the elections,” a White House official told The New York Times. “Because he wants to do this in a way that’s sustainable, the president will take action on immigration before the end of the year.”

White House officials also said Obama is afraid that any executive action on immigration could anger conservatives and hurt Democratic efforts to hold on to the majority in the Senate. This comes as several Democrats — many of them in tight reelection races — have been pressuring Obama to delay executive action.

SEE ALSO: Most undocumented immigrants have strong ties to the U.S.

The delay angered many immigration advocates who for months had been calling on the president to take “bold” actions to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation.

America’s Voice said it was “bitterly disappointed” in the president and also in Senate Democrats who asked the president to delay executive action. The Service Employees International Union said Obama’s decision to delay executive action “forces countless families to continue to wait in the shadows of fear.”

“We have a father in detention who won’t see his U.S. citizen children. I have my mother who can still be deported this December,” stated Erika Andiola, a Dreamer and co-director of the DREAM Action Coalition. “The President chose politics over families.”

Other advocates vowed to continue pressuring the president to act. “Immigrant families will respond to this lack of leadership with a brave and fierce determination to make sure promises are kept,” stated Deepak Bhargava on behalf of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM).

SEE ALSO: Luis Gutierrez tells Senate Democrats: ‘Step aside’ and let Obama act

Obama is scheduled to appear on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. He is expected to discuss his decision to delay executive action on immigration.