Barack Obama warned against bypassing Congress on immigration reform

WASHINGTON: Top Republican leadership has cautioned US President Barack Obama against bypassing the Congress on immigration reform that would allow 11 million illegal immigrants, including 2.4 lakh Indians, to stay in the country.

"The President has already made a number of unilateral changes in US immigration policy with disastrous results. We have seen literally thousands of convicted criminals released from US custody, including those with violent records, and, of course, it wasn't that long ago we saw what had been called a genuine humanitarian crisis unfold along the southern border in my state," alleged top Republican Senator, John Cornyn.

Questioning the plans on immigration reform, Cornyn, who is co-chair of the Senate India caucus, asked, "What about the people who have been waiting patiently in line complying with immigration laws to have these millions of other people jump right ahead of them and be given some form of legal status?"

"It's just not fair to them, and it certainly doesn't encourage people's compliance with the rules or the law," he said.

After a poll drubbing at the hands of Republicans who snatched control of the Senate, Obama struck a defiant tone saying he is ready to work with Republicans but could bypass Congress on issues like immigration reforms.

The President said he would take executive action this year, without waiting to see whether the new Congress makes progress toward a comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform bill.

Opposing the move, Cornyn said criminal organisations would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the President's executive order.

"And yet again, President Obama just doesn't seem to care. He also doesn't seem to care that his executive action would harm our opportunity to reform our broken legal immigration system," he said.

Cornyn said Republicans and Democrats alike have ideas for how to reform the immigration system, and many of them have bipartisan support.

"So in the President's desperate attempt to placate some very vocal activist groups and to make up for years of hollow promises, he has decided to flout the rule of law and end up making real immigration reform that much harder to pass," he said.

The Democratic leadership, however, argued the possible executive actions by Obama saying several presidents in the past have also done so.

"Instead of looking for common ground and working to compromise, a few extreme Republicans are more interested in threats and ultimatums.

And why? Because these radical Republicans object to President Obama using his constitutionally-established authority to do what Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H W Bush did before him - fix as much of the system as he can to protect families suffering under our broken immigration system," Senator Harry Reid said.

Meanwhile, several Democratic Senators in a letter supported the President on his executive actions on immigration reform.

"Because House Republicans have not acted, we fully support your decision to use your well-established executive authority to improve as much of the immigration system as you can," the Senators said.