WASHINGTON — More than a year after the Senate passed a bi-partisan comprehensive immigration reform bill, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Sunday said he was “fed up” with House Republicans who will not call any bill for a vote.
“I am really getting fed up with some of the critics of this administration, particularly from House Republicans,” Durbin said. “They had the opportunity for one solid year to call the immigration reform bill, and yet they refused to. And now they’re arguing we need more enforcement at the borders and a lot of other things? When are they going to accept their responsibility to govern, to call this bi-partisan bill for consideration,” Durbin said CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Durbin made his comments as President Barack Obama is readying immigration-related executive actions to sign in the wake of the House GOP leaders blocking floor votes. House Speaker John Boehner R-Ohio has threatened to sue the president if he moves ahead. In reply, Obama shrugged off the threat, saying a few days ago, “sue me.”
Meanwhile, a crisis is continuing on the Southern border, where women and children from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, are being smuggled into the U.S. They are being caught by border security agents and taken to detention centers. The growing numbers of these children in custody is the latest immigration-related controversy facing the Obama administration.
Durbin said the governments of those three Central American nations have a responsibility to “to stop this as quickly as possible.” As more children are being taken into custody, both Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry have also made appeals to the leaders of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to discourage people from trying to illegally enter the U.S.
When Congress returns from the Fourth of July break this week, lawmakers will start to consider an Obama administration request for more than $2 billion in emergency funds to help deal with this smuggling surge and get women and children in U.S. detention centers deported more quickly.
Smugglers luring children into this “deadly journey” is an “awful crime” Durbin said, and they should face tough punishments.
