Barack Obama has published an exclusive op-ed in The Hill explaining how he hopes to “fix our broken immigration system.” Confusingly, despite that he’s already issued executive fiats unilaterally changing immigration law, he writes that he wants to work with Congress:
I am confident that all the steps I’ve taken on my own to fix our broken immigration system will eventually be implemented. But I also continue to believe that these steps are no substitute for congressional action. It was my hope that a new, Republican-led Congress would seek to govern responsibly by supporting common-sense solutions to one of our country’s greatest challenges, just like President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tried to nearly a decade ago. Instead, we’ve seen a series of votes to deport Dreamers, young people who are American in every way except on paper. We’ve even heard irresponsible threats to shut down the Department of Homeland Security, the very agency tasked with securing our borders and keeping Americans safe in a time of new threats, for no reason other than partisan disagreement over my actions.
It’s time to end the era of manufactured crises, put politics aside and focus on doing what’s best for America. So while I will fight any attempt to turn back the progress we’ve made or break up families across our country, I welcome the opportunity to work with anyone who wants to build on the improvements we’ve put in place, and fix our broken immigration system once and for all.
