One of President Trump’s top immigration lieutenants unloaded on former House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Thursday, saying the one-time top Republican ruined a chance to solve the immigration crisis last year.
“We had leadership there that defended the status quo. They were the chamber of commerce Congress. They wanted illegal immigration,” Mr. Cuccinelli said at an event hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Mr. Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general who is now acting director at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, specifically blamed Mr. Ryan, who retired from Congress amid the GOP’s disastrous 2018 election season, for bungling Mr. Trump’s effort to get something done last year.
Many conservatives at the time were pushing for passage of a bill that would have offered some legal status for illegal immigrant “Dreamers” in exchange for major enhancements in immigration enforcement and border security.
But Mr. Cuccinelli and Rep. Roger Williams, Texas Republican, said the party’s leaders didn’t put enough muscle into it.
“When Paul Ryan was the speaker Paul Ryan submarined the best opportunity we had legislatively,” Mr. Cuccinelli said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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