Obama insists he's not punting on immigration to save Senate Democrats

Obama insists he's not punting on immigration to save Senate Democrats

President Obama denies he's holding off on immigration reform to spare Democrats potential fallout in an election year, though he concedes there was a "shift" in the politics surrounding the issue that necessitated the delay.

"That's not the reason," Obama said on Meet the Press when asked directly if he was playing election year politics.

Rather, Obama insisted he'd "been consistent" on immigration, and that his administration "laid the groundwork" for moving ahead with executive action next year. However, he added that the surge of unaccompanied minors to the border "got a lot of attention, and a lot of Americans started thinking we've got this immigration crisis on our hands."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"The truth of the matter is that the politics did shift midsummer because of that problem," he said. "I want to spend some time, even as we're getting all our ducks in a row for the executive action, I also want to make sure that the public understands why we're doing this, why it's the right thing for the American people, why it's the right thing for the American economy." --Jon Terbush

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.