Appearing Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week,” senior White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said President Barack Obama will wait until the end of summer to decide on how to expand executive amnesty for illegal aliens. He said the reports suggesting the Obama would formally delay deporting 5 million illegal aliens were “uninformed speculation.”
Pfeiffer said Obama is waiting for a review of options from Attorney General Eric Holder and Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson before making any decisions. In March, Obama directed Johnson to review deportation polices and recommend any possible “more humane” changes. Obama delayed that review in May to give House Republicans time to pass legislation before summer recess.
Pfeiffer said now Congress has left the president no choice. “Because of Congress’s failure to fix the immigration system and to pass the supplemental appropriations, we need to deal with the specific crisis on the border … the president has no choice but to act…[and he]…is going to do what he can…under the confines of the law,” Pfeiffer said.
The president may take action sooner on the border surge crisis. During a Friday press conference Obama said that he’s “going to have to act alone” to re-allocate funding for more agents, detention centers, and immigration judges.
Read more in USA Today and the Washington Post.
