President Obama is “willing to take a little heat” from immigration advocates and pundits for delaying an executive order on immigration until after the mid-term elections, his spokesman said Monday.
Mr. Obama “has not in any way altered his commitment or interest’ in taking executive action, said press secretary Josh Earnest. But the president believes he should not inject such an action into the “hyper partisan” atmosphere before the election, he said.
The president said in an interview aired Sunday that he will postpone his action, which he promised by the end of the summer, until sometime after the election. Critics including immigration advocates and Republicans said Mr. Obama postponed his decision to spare some endangered Senate Democrats in their reelection bids, fearing that a move to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants could fire up Republican voters.
Mr. Earnest said the president delayed his decision because he wants his eventual action to be “sustainable and enduring.” He said issuing an executive order before the election would “subject this issue to gross distortion and partisanship.”
Mr. Obama vowed in June to issue an executive order on immigration after House Republicans said they would not address the issue this year.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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