WASHINGTON – Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) joined the Senate's top-ranking Democrats Monday in urging President Obama to use executive authority to protect undocumented immigrants, much as the president is expected to do in the coming weeks, if not days.
"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," said the letter, signed by Menendez along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and the top Democrats in the Senate, Richard Durbin (D., Ill.), Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Patty Murray (D., Wash.) and the head of Democrats' national Senate campaign arm, Michael Bennet (D., Col.).
Menendez is the highest-ranking Hispanic in the Senate and was part of the "Gang of Eight" that crafted a bipartisan immigration reform bill that passed the Senate last year. But the package has not come up for a vote in the Republican-controlled House, and with Republicans set to take hold of the Senate, too, in January, Democrats see executive action as their only avenue for changing the immigration system.
"Immigrant communities have waited too long for House Republicans to catch up with the American public's support for comprehensive immigration reform," said the letter to Obama. "We strongly support your plan to improve as much of the immigration system as you can within your legal authority."
Numerous reports have said that Obama is preparing executive action that would protect as many as five million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Republicans have fiercely criticized the expected move, calling it "executive amnesty" for illegal immigrants and saying it would poison any prospects of cooperation. Some have urged their party to use federal spending bills as leverage to try to block or dismantle any unilateral action Obama takes on immigration.
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