White House Blames Congress for Deportations

White House Blames Congress for Deportations

After President Barack Obama signed an executive action that made some illegal immigrants eligible for temporary work permits, the White House is now blaming the Obama administration’s record number of deportations on Congress.

Regarding the 1.5 illegal immigrants the Obama administration has deported, White House domestic policy chief Cecilia Muñoz, in a Google+ Hangout chat session on Thursday, said, “the government’s job is to do what Congress tells it to do.”

“We all understand we are enforcing and implementing a system which is broken, and our primary job here is to fix it and that requires the Congress of the United States,”  Muñoz said. “That’s something we’ve been trying to get Congress to do for four years, and our moment has come.”

Munoz was responding to a question from Jose Antonio Vargas, the former Washington Post reporter and illegal immigrant who has been on a DREAM Act crusade after coming out publicly about his immigration status. 

While calling for immigration reform to be passed, Munoz continued to insist to Vargas that Congress is responsible for the the illegal immigrants the Department of Homeland Security has deported. 

“Congress, under the immigration laws that we’ve got now, Congress requires us to remove people who are removable and gives DHS, frankly, a whole lot of resources to do that job,” Munoz said. “DHS’s job is to make sure they make the best possible decisions on how they use those resources.”

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