Two House Republicans announced on Friday that they are leaving a bipartisan group aimed at passing immigration reform.
Reps. Sam Johnson and John Carter, both from Texas, cited “politics” and President Barack Obama as the reasons they are leaving the group.
“After years of hard work and countless meetings, we have reached a tipping point and can no longer continue working on a broad approach to immigration. We want to be clear. The problem is politics,” the two congressmen said in a statement. “Instead of doing what’s right for America, President Obama time and again has unilaterally disregarded the U.S. Constitution, the letter of the law and bypassed the Congress – the body most representative of the people – in order to advance his political agenda. We will not tolerate it. Laws passed by Congress are not merely suggestions, regardless of the current atmosphere in Washington. Laws are to be respected and followed by all – particularly by the Commander-in-Chief. “
In June, Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) left the group, which had originally been a “gang of eight.” The group had quietly been working on a bipartisan immigration reform proposal for years and over the last few months following the introduction of an immigration reform proposal by a counterpart group of lawmakers in the Senate, said they were close to introducing their own legislation.
The remaining members of the group are Democrats Zoe Lofgren (CA), Luis Gutierrez (IL), John Yarmuth (KY), Xavier Becerra (CA) and Republican Mario Diaz-Balart (FL).
