Congressman Smith Strongly Supports President's Executive Action on Immigration Reform

Congressman Smith released the following statement after President Obama announced executive action to expand deferred action for millions of undocumented immigrants:

"I strongly support the President's executive action on deportation relief. This action is long overdue and will bring millions of undocumented immigrants out of the shadows. It will provide relief for families and children living in constant fear of deportation. I've met many undocumented immigrants who are law-abiding fathers, mothers, and children who have lived in the United States the majority of their lives and have contributed greatly to communities. I do not believe these individuals should be deported. The President's executive action allows for discretion to use our resources more effectively by focusing on individuals who truly pose a risk to our communities. This is a good step, but to truly address our broken immigration system, Congress must pass a permanent comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) bill.

"Congressional inaction on this issue is incredibly frustrating because CIR has bipartisan support and could pass tomorrow if a vote were allowed in the House. Over a year ago, the Senate passed CIR with large bipartisan support and the House introduced a CIR bill shortly afterwards. This means that for well over a year, Congress has had the votes to pass landmark CIR with a pathway to citizenship. Shamefully, Speaker Boehner and House Republican leadership's response has been to refuse a vote on the bill and to obstruct the process for political reasons, in the meantime families and children continue to be ripped apart by our broken immigration system.

"Both Republicans and Democrats agree that we must address the fact that 11 million undocumented immigrants are currently living in the shadows. However, House Republicans have offered no plans to do so and have obstructed all legislation and policies to move forward. This failure in Republican Leadership has forced the President to take action. I commend him for doing so. In Congress, I have strongly advocated for deportation relief, reforms to our immigration detention policies, and for CIR. I will continue to do all I can to work with colleagues to pass a meaningful CIR bill that keeps families together."