Barack Obama: Democrats Too Beat Up To Address Illegal Immigration Bill This Year
Smart politics from Obama. Senator Lindsey Graham, a key Republican defector on cap and trade legislation, won’t be helping Democrats if they continue pushing for an illegal immigration bill. And with the Arizona bill, and the challenge it’s already drawing from Obama’s Department of Justice, likely to fill the liberal base’s desire for action on the issue from Democrats he’s free to put federal legislation on the back burner.
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Barack Obama said Wednesday that there “may not be an appetite” in Congress to deal with immigration immediately after going through a tough legislative year.
With energy legislation on the table and midterm elections approaching, Obama said he didn’t want to force an immigration bill through Congress “just for the sake of politics.” Still, he said discussions on the issue must move forward in a way that can garner the support of the American people.
“We’ve gone though a very tough year and I’ve been working Congress very hard, so I know there may not be an appetite immediately to dive into another controversial issue,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One returning with him to Washington from a Midwest trip.
The issue of immigration bubbled to the surface in recent weeks after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a controversial bill into law requiring local and state law enforcement to question people about their immigration status if there’s reason to suspect they’re in the country illegally and makes it a state crime to be in the United States illegally.
Obama has sharply criticized the law, asking the Justice Department to look into whether it violates civil rights. On Wednesday, he said the law was a shortcut that would wind up “polarizing the situation insread of solving the problem.”
Expect Graham to jump back on board with cap and trade, and for some sort of an environmental bill to be the main push going into the midterm elections.
Tags: boston, due process, liberals, timothy mcveigh, wisconsin
