Washington, D.C. — Today, the House of Representatives took up a debate on two bills: the ENFORCE Act, or the Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law Act of 2014 (HR 4138), and the Faithful Execution of the Law Act (HR 3973). Angela Maria Kelley, the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s Vice President of Immigration, issued the following statement on the legislation and House Republicans’ failure to lead on immigration reform:
“Despite overwhelming support for immigration reform by the American public, the Senate, and the White House, House Republicans continue to show a glaring lack of leadership by refusing to advance any legislation that would fix the problems with our current system. Less than two months ago, the House leadership issued “Standards for Immigration Reform” as a purported precursor to actual reform legislation. Less than a week later, Republican House leaders backtracked from that plan and insisted that immigration was too contentious for their conference to tackle this year. Although they concluded that reform legislation that could advance the nation’s interests was too divisive for their members, House leaders signaled that anti-immigrant legislation remains a unifying cause for their members by bringing these two bills to the Floor today.
Not only is the Republican conference cementing its own reputation as the ‘do-nothing’ Congress, it is now attempting to impose its underperforming habits on the executive branch by advancing bills that seek to handcuff the President Barack Obama’s ability to enforce the immigration laws in a humane and rational way. They can’t do their own job, so now they want to tell the president how to do his.
Prior to today, the only immigration legislation that House leadership had brought to the floor in the 113th Congress was a provision to strip DREAMers of deferred action. With today’s anti-immigrant bills, House Republicans are not only guaranteeing their tag as the ‘do-nothing’ Congress, they are making a play to become the 21stCentury ‘know-nothing’ party. We are tired of petty political theater. The American people, newcomers and native-born alike, deserve better. Both branches of government should be working in all the ways possible to restore fairness and balance to our immigration laws.”
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To speak with experts on this issue, please contact Crystal Patterson at [email protected] or 202.478.6350.