Hispanic Democratic lawmakers got no heads-up from President Obama that he was delaying executive action on immigration until after the election, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) said Monday.
“There were things that were very, very practical on that list,” Sanchez said on CNN’s “New Day.”
{mosads}“The president said he would address it with us. He would choose from that list. He would help us with that,” she said. “In fact, he has delayed it until after the election. We had no heads-up on that.”
Obama’s decision to delay executive action has sparked outrage among immigration activists, who argue other Democratic constituencies haven’t had to wait for action from Obama.
Sanchez said the Congressional Hispanic Caucus had presented immigration-related proposals to Obama and was disappointed he had decided to put off any action.
“We’re disappointed with the president, as the immigrant communities are disappointed with the House Republicans for refusing to bring this up,” Sanchez said.
“We should be getting this done now and not after the election,” she added.
Between 60,000 to 70,000 families “of all stripes” could now face possible deportations because of the delay, said Sanchez, who blamed House Republicans for the inaction in general.
A White House official on Saturday said President Obama had decided to wait until after November’s midterm elections to use his executive authority to improve the immigration system.
Obama had originally said he would act by the end of the summer. He had also delayed using executive action before in the hopes that Congress would enact immigration reform.