Supporters of President Obama on the issue of immigration reform are mocking Republicans who want to start a fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Republicans have only agreed to fund the agency through to the end of next month.
The Republicans in question are looking to challenge Obama’s executive action on immigration reform once both the Senate and the House of Representatives are under the control of their own party; however, advocates of the president and his actions claim that turning the DHS funding into yet another game of political brinkmanship will only backfire on the Republicans and make them look bad in the eyes of the nation, particularly among immigrants and those in the Latino community.
“The idea that a partial shutdown of DHS is going to get Obama to cave on a signature second-term accomplishment is pure fantasy,” notes the executive director of America’s Voice, Frank Sharry. “It’s much more likely that the politics will blow up in the face of Republicans, and that they’ll be seen by Latinos and immigrants as hostile.” The coming months are likely to be explosive over the immigration question.
David Price, the North Carolina representative who is the top Democrat on the House of Representatives panel that oversees funding for the Department of Homeland Security, finds the idea that the Republicans will allow front-line Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers to work without pay highly unlikely.