Obama’s response to the GOP plan could give the immigration debate some momentum. W.H. open to GOP immigration plan

President Barack Obama signaled in an interview Friday that he could accept the terms of an immigration plan proposed by House Republicans — while indicating in a separate appearance later in the day that he would not rule out executive action if Congress fails to act.

In a Google Hangout hosted by the White House, Obama was optimistic about the chances of immigration reform passing Congress, saying that it was his “firm belief” that lawmakers could get it done this year.


The House Republican leadership released a one-page memo outlining its immigration ideas on Thursday afternoon, and those standards showed that the party is “moving in the direction of the principles that I have laid out since the time I first ran for this office,” Obama said during the virtual chat.

( Also on POLITICO: Obama: Ready to ‘look at all options’ on immigration)

Obama’s positive response to the Republican proposal — which was circulated at a GOP retreat this week — could give the immigration debate some momentum. Reform has basically stalled since last summer, when House Republicans failed to move following Senate passage of a comprehensive bill that approved a 13-year pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.

The new GOP proposal calls for giving those undocumented immigrants a way to become legalized, but rejects a new pathway to citizenship for them. It doesn’t mention whether those immigrants could obtain green cards and eventually citizenship by using existing channels, such as marriage or sponsorship by an employer.

In a CNN interview airing Friday, Obama didn’t reject that approach out of hand.

“If [Speaker John Boehner] proposes something that says right away, folks aren’t being deported, families aren’t being separated, we’re able to attract top young students to provide the skills or start businesses here and then there’s a regular process of citizenship, I’m not sure how wide the divide ends up being,” Obama said in the interview, which was taped Thursday. The president emphasized that he did not want to prejudge the details.

( POLITICO's full coverage of immigration)

Later, during the Google Hangout, the president said he will give House Republicans the next few months to develop legislation that reflects those principles.

But Obama added: “If at some point we see that it’s not getting done, I’m gonna look at all options to make sure that we have a rational, smart system of immigration.” The comments came in response to a question about whether he would act unilaterally to stop deportations.

President Barack Obama and his aides have previously ruled out that option multiple times, despite coming under pressure from some advocates to use his executive power to halt deportations. For instance, in an interview with Univision and Telemundo last year, Obama — when pressed on the deportations issue — declared: “I’m not a king.” And when he was interrupted by an activist urging him to halt deportations in San Francisco last fall, Obama emphasized that the U.S. is “a nation of laws,” adding: “the easy way out is to try to yell and pretend like I can do something by violating our laws.”

But as the House dragged its feet on reform, impatient advocates have turned to the White House to urge Obama to stop deporting undocumented immigrants, particularly those who would have qualified for legalization under the Senate plan.

“We appreciate the recognition by the administration that they have untapped executive authority to assist immigrants,” Ana Avendaño, director of immigration and community action for the AFL-CIO, said Friday. “But we continue to believe he should act immediately rather than continue to wait on a House Republican caucus that has literally taken 13 months to write one flimsy page of right-wing talking points.”

A White House official said after Obama’s comments: “The president has been clear all along that the administration will continue to enforce the law and that he cannot unilaterally halt deportations.”

But the Obama’s remarks set off immediate criticism from conservative immigration reform advocates, who say House Republicans need space to create their own legislation without pressure from the White House.

Even among those who may be amenable to an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws, GOP lawmakers are wary of the administration that, in their view, has skirted Congress and abused their executive power.

“There is a trust gap that I think is the biggest obstacle that we have,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), said on a conference call Friday, of fellow House Republicans and Obama. When told of Obama’s Google Hangout comments, Diaz-Balart, who is trying to write a legalization bill, said: “That statement is not helpful. Other statements like that are not helpful.”

Still, it appeared possible that the White House and congressional Republicans could reach an agreement on immigration, when Obama , in the CNN interview, indicated some openness to the legalization plan being shaped by House Republicans.

While the GOP principles do not include an explicit pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants — except for those who came into the country as children — they call for legalizing those here illegally as long as a series of requirements and “specific enforcement triggers” are in place to prevent future illegal immigration.

In the interview, Obama was also complimentary of other sections in the GOP principles, particularly where they call for citizenship for young undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers.

While the blueprint for reform still needs to be put into legislative form, the Republican principles seemed to have spurred a new momentum for an immigration overhaul on Capitol Hill.

Americans for a Conservative Direction, a group with ties to FWD.us, the pro-reform group backed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, announced Friday that it will launch a 10-day round of television and radio ads nationwide promoting the House GOP’s “conservative solution” on reform. The buy is in the high six figures, according to the group.

Jennifer Epstein contributed to this report.