Sen. Jeff Flake: Obama’s immigration announcement ‘a political move’

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona issued a statement Saturday in response to the White House’s announcement that President Barack Obama plans to bypass Congress and make immigration-related executive actions after the November elections.

“With the announcement that he will act alone on immigration reform after the November elections, the president has made what was already a political move even more transparently political,” the statement said. “Such action will make genuine reform of our immigration system even more difficult.”

Flake and Sen. John McCain were part of the “Gang of 8” who collaborated to try to pass immigration reform last year, an effort that ultimately stalled.

The first-term senator appeared on KTAR News 92.3 FM in July and talked about the need to “stem the tide” of illegal immigration, particularly in response to thousands of unaccompanied minors who journeyed from Central America to the U.S.

“I would rather be spending that money in a way we can help these countries receive these children back and in a way that will not incentivize others to make the journey,” he said.

Obama’s decision to wait until after the general election abandons a pledge he made June 30 to act quickly after summer’s end, and it prompted an immediate and furious backlash from immigration advocates. But in the past several weeks, the pressure for swift measures from pro-immigration groups ran up against fears from Democrats that acting now would energize Republican opposition against vulnerable Senate Democrats

Two White House officials said Obama concluded that circumventing Congress through executive actions on immigration during the campaign would politicize the issue and hurt future efforts to pass a broad overhaul. They said he fully intends to act before the end of the year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.