Again the media blurbs that do no more than appease constituents instead of doing the right thing. Will this will be the beginning of doing nothing of importance for the next several years? We as voters never hold these idiots accountable for their poor performance
WASHINGTON – Emboldened House Republicans issued a stern but symbolic rebuke to President Barack Obama over immigration Thursday, passing a bill declaring his executive actions to curb deportations “null and void and without legal effect.”
Outraged Democrats, immigrant advocates and the White House said the GOP was voting to tear families apart and eject parents.
“Rather than deport students and separate families and make it harder for law enforcement to do its job, I just want the Congress to work with us to pass a common-sense law to fix that broken immigration system,” Obama said before the vote.
Even supporters acknowledged that the bill by Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., which says Obama was acting “without any constitutional or statutory basis,” was mostly meant to send a message. It stands no chance in the Senate, which remains under Democratic control until January.
The real fight may lie ahead as conservatives push to use must-pass spending legislation to block Obama.
For now, Republicans insisted they must go on record denouncing what they described on the House floor as an outrageous power grab by Obama.
“The president’s decision to defy the Constitution by using executive actions to change immigration law cannot go unopposed,” said Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., who voted for the bill. “The legislation passed today is a proactive response to this gross abuse of power It clarifies that the president’s use of executive authority does not extend to exempting millions from legal action at once. This is a needed step in any legal challenge to the president’s abuse of power.”
New Mexico’s other two representatives, Democrats Ben Ray Luján and Michelle Lujan Grisham, voted against the bill.
“The president thinks he can just sit in the Oval Office and make up his own laws. That’s not the way our system of government works,” said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. “This legislation says you can’t do that, Mr. President. There is a rule of law.”
The vote was 219-197, with three Democratic “yes” votes and seven Republican “no” votes. Three Republicans voted “present.”
Obama’s executive actions last month will extend deportation relief and work permits to an estimated 4 million immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, mostly those who have been in the country more than five years and have children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
He also reordered law enforcement priorities and expanded an existing deportation deferral program for immigrants brought illegally as kids.
Compounding the GOP’s anger, Obama’s executive action came barely two weeks after Republicans trounced Democrats in the midterm elections, winning control of the Senate and increasing their majorities in the House.
Even as emotions ran high in debate on the bill, many involved acknowledged it was mostly a sideshow as Republicans struggled to find some way to undo what Obama has done – not just register their disapproval. Party leaders acknowledged their options were limited.
The Yoho bill was part of a two-part strategy by House GOP leadership to appease conservative immigration hard-liners without risking a government shutdown. Their hope was that after approving it, Republicans would move on next week to vote on legislation to keep most of the government running for a year, with a shorter time frame for the Homeland Security Department, which oversees immigration.
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