Advocates Say Obama Is 'Scared Out Of His Boots' On Immigration
"The President has shown that, once again, he has been scared out of his boots by some of the least reasonable elements within the Republican Party," Cesar Vargas, co-director of the DREAM Action Coalition, said in a statement released soon after the news broke on Saturday morning.
After Congress stalled on the issue earlier this year, Obama promised to to use executive action to fix some elements of the U.S. immigration system in the near future. The exact measures Obama was planning to take were unclear, but they could have potentially shaped the course of his presidency in the face of steep Republican resistance.
"If Congress will not do their job, at least we can do ours. I expect their recommendations before the end of summer and I intend to adopt those recommendations without further delay," Obama said in June.
However, Obama bowed to political pressure, according to reports citing anonymous White House aides, and decided to hold off acting on his own until after the 2014 midterm elections. His administration also reportedly insisted that immediate action could hamper eventual legislative reform.
Vargas and his fellow co-director, Erika Andiola, accused Obama of placing politics over the substantive needs of immigrant families.
"Tea Party members ... have shown who is boss on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This is not just a delay on immigration policy, this is about real families, who will suffer an addition 1,100 deportations per day until he acts," Vargas said.
"The President chose politics over families.This is not a courageous president that stood up to Republican scare tactics, and wrongly persuaded by Democrats that any delay will help them," added Andiola. "With this delay the president has broken yet another promise to the Latino community."
The president is reportedly expected to explain his thinking on the subject more fully Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet the Press."