WASHINGTON (AP) – Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is defending President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration even as GOP lawmakers work to find the best way to stop them.
Johnson was to appear Tuesday before the House Homeland Security Committee in the administration’s first testimony on the issue since Obama announced plans two weeks ago to shield some 4 million immigrants here illegally from deportation and offer them work permits. The action applies to people who’ve been in the country more than five years and have kids who are citizens or green card holders.
“The reality is that, given our limited resources, these people are not priorities for removal. It’s time we acknowledge that and encourage them to be held accountable,” Johnson said in prepared testimony. “This is simple common sense.”
His testimony came as lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill from a weeklong Thanksgiving break still divided on how to stop Obama.
The issue is tied in with the need to pass a government funding bill by Dec. 11, or risk a shutdown. Conservatives have been agitating to use any government funding bill to block Obama’s moves, but Republican party leaders fear that could result in a veto by Obama and a subsequent government shutdown, a scenario they are determined to avoid.