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Senator Mitch McConnell
By Ray O’Hanlon
rohanlon@irishecho.com
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has ruled out any action on immigration reform in the current Congress.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, McConnell made it clear that reform advocates will have to wait.
And he point the finger of blame at President Obama.
“Not this Congress. I think when the president took the action he did, after the 2014 election, he pretty much made it impossible for us to go forward with immigration reform this Congress,” said the Kentucky senator, this in reference to President Obama’s executive actions on immigration - actions which have since been tied up by court rulings.
“The concern that we expressed about that I think was validated by the fact that he (Obama) is currently under a court order not to go forward with what he decided to do.
“And so the atmosphere for dealing with that issue in the wake of what he did is not appropriate to get the kind of immigration reform that we probably need to address,” McConnell said.
“Hopefully in the next Congress we’ll do it, where we’ll have for sure a different president,” McConnell added.
The Echo was alerted to the Majority Leader’s words by Keith Carney who was attending the press conference.
Carney runs a broadcast news organization on Capitol Hill called FedNet which provides daily Radio/TV coverage of Floor debates, press conferences and hearings.
Regardless of congressional inaction, or indeed because of it, immigration reform, and its ever present companion, border security, looks set to be a front burner issue in the 2016 presidential election campaign.
It was addressed during last week’s first Republican candidates’ debate in Cleveland.
