House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) reacted defiantly Friday to President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, accusing him of “deliberately sabotaging” any chance of finding a bipartisan solution for the issue.
In a press conference, Boehner suggested that the executive actions would actually punish those who are going through the legal process of immigration the United States while encouraging more people to migrate into the country illegally.
“With this action the president has chosen to deliberately sabotage any chance of enacting bipartisan reforms he claims to seek,” Boehner said. “As I told the president yesterday, he is damaging the presidency itself.”
The House Speaker also shifted the blame to Obama for Congress’ failure to take legislative action on immigration reform and thus avoid the need for an executive order.
“The president repeatedly suggested that he was going to unilaterally change immigration law and he created an environment where the members would not trust him,” Boehner said. “Trying to find a way to work together was virtually impossible and I warned the President, over and and over, that his actions were making it impossible for me to do what he wanted me to do.”
Asked how the House planned to respond to Obama’s executive action, Boehner said members were “looking at the options that are available to us.”
“I will say to you, that the House will in fact act,” he said.
