For the past decade, the immigration issue has been one of the most contentious in politics. There is great debate how to stop illegal aliens from entering the country and how to deal with the millions of illegal aliens already here. But there are too many politicians who have no interest in seeing this issue resolved. Why would they? It allows them to use it as a fear-mongering tactic in campaigns, and for fundraising. It’s a political football.
Last year, leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives chose not to vote on immigration legislation. So in November, President Obama used an executive order to implement part of his program to deal with the issue. In response, very conservative Republican members in the House came up with a plan to thwart the president’s actions. In a pending bill for funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), they incorporated amendments preventing the use of DHS funds to implement Obama’s order.
However, this measure from the House has stalled in the Senate because of bi-partisan opposition there. Without resolution by Saturday, funding for DHS runs out. Many DHS employees would be laid off, and much of the agency’s work stopped – a mini-shutdown. Another shutdown? Really? How does this help with illegal immigration if the agency that oversees Border Protection is largely shutdown?
This legislative tactic to shutdown most of DHS is not only irresponsible, it’s dangerous. At a time with so many threats to national security from abroad, and significant concerns about domestic terrorism – like what happened in Paris and Copenhagen, the threat of another shutdown is inexcusable.
I understand the frustration with Obama’s unilateral action and agree the president shouldn’t have done it, but it’s the leadership in the House that has been the primary source of inaction on this issue the past two years. In June 2013, the Senate passed a bi-partisan comprehensive immigration reform bill – 68 senators including 14 Republicans voted for it. Was it a perfect bill? No, there is no such thing, but it was a good start.
In fact, early in 2014, House Speaker John Boehner said that he thought a deal could be done on immigration that year. In less than a week, he was back peddling. After making his statement, the very conservative members in the House made it clear to Boehner that they would not compromise on the pending bi-partisan Senate bill. Of course, as has been their practice, the very conservative wing didn’t offer an alternative proposal, they just said NO.
Consequently, the Senate bill was never voted on in the House and died at the end of the session in December 2014. It’s almost certain that there were enough mainstream Republican votes in the House to pass the bi-partisan legislation. However, Boehner would not allow a vote in order to keep the ultra-conservatives from revolting.
In the meantime, we need the House to get its act together and get something passed this week to fund DHS. Besides, earlier this week, a U.S. District Judge issued an injunction blocking the president’s executive order. The injunction prevents Obama’s actions from being carried out, so there is no reason to block DHS funding.
This morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Secretary of DHS, Jeh Johnson, said that about 30,000 department employees will be furloughed if Congress doesn’t act. Johnson stated that a department shutdown will adversely affect local and state law enforcement agencies, and security of country’s southern border. He added, “It’s bizarre and absurd that we’re even having this discussion in these challenging times.”
Three former secretaries of DHS, two of them Republicans, and several Republicans in Congress are also urging their colleagues to stop using the DHS budget as a political tactic. Citing the fact that most of the work DHS does is vital to national security and for protecting the borders, they are calling for a clean DHS funding bill for the rest of the year.
Once the immediate crisis is solved, it’s time for the very conservative caucus in the House to provide a long-term solution to the immigration issue in the form of legislation. If they don’t, it substantiates the theory that they are using the illegal immigration issue as a political football, with no intention of coming up with a plan any time soon. If so, we need to call them on it. It’s time for the tantrums and shutdowns to stop.
Next blog: Some ideas for realistic immigration reform.