Latino lawmakers have held a private meeting with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough just days after the announcement by President Obama that he is delaying taking executive action on immigration reform. Politico says that McDonough relayed to the lawmakers that Obama still intends to enact immigration reform before the end of 2014.
The meeting came about after Latino lawmakers made public their disappointment over Obama’s decision to postpone taking action on immigration reform until after the conclusion of the midterm elections in November. The president was originally set to announce his plans by the end of summer; however, he changed his mind, with many people speculating that the reason behind this was the fear of a backlash against Democrats running for the US Senate.
Politico also says that Latino lawmakers now believe that the timeline laid out for them by McDonough is more or less the same as the pledge made by the president before his decision to delay taking action Congressional Hispanic Caucus members are reportedly much happier about immigration reform still taking place following the meeting with McDonough. “As I told the chief, I said I for one need constant reassurance,” admits Representative Raul Grijalva. “I don’t want to go down this path come November and then, for some other reason, find that the immigrant community and the Latino community get thrown in the heap again.”
Obama’s plan was not discussed in detail during the meeting, though McDonough stated that the president intends to go as far as he can within his executive authority.