Ryan’s cynical statements on immigration reform

Well, that was fast. Only three days after being sworn in as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has made it clear that he will not be working with the Obama administration on immigration reform. “Look, I think it would be a ridiculous notion to try and work on an issue like this with a president we simply cannot trust on this issue,” Ryan said in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Ryan said that because the president had tried to “go it alone” on immigration, there would be no movement on the issue until at least 2017.

{mosads}The argument that President Obama cannot be trusted on immigration is a cliche that ignores history. The fact that Ryan is openly stating that he will not be working on an issue of critical importance is as cynical as it is predictable. By making this commitment to not even attempt to lead, he is handing the Democrats an issue to capitalize on in 2016.

On Sunday’s “Meet The Press,” Ryan said, “The president has proven himself untrustworthy on this issue (immigration) because he tried to unilaterally rewrite the law himself. Presidents don’t write laws. Congress does.” Ryan conveniently forgets that the president only acted after former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) refused to bring the bipartisan Gang of Eight immigration bill up for a vote. That bill, the best shot at reforming our broken immigration system in a generation, likely would have passed the House with bipartisan support. But Boehner was unwilling to anger his far-right caucus, or hand the president a victory, and the bill died in the House.

Besides, it is inaccurate of Ryan to say that the president tried to “rewrite the law himself.” Obama simply attempted to do what every president as far back as Eisenhower has done, which is to take lawful executive action on immigration. He was not offering anyone “amnesty,” a green card or a path to citizenship. He was offering temporary relief from deportation in face of continued inaction by House Republicans.

In fact, before he announced his executive action on immigration, Obama showed restraint and willingness to compromise. In January 2014, he said during a Google Hangout that he would not seriously consider executive actions until the House had had its chance to develop its own legislation, which it never did. In 2013, he said he was open to a piecemeal approach to immigration, and in January 2014, he said that he would consider legislation that did not include a path to citizenship.

Obama also delayed the timing of his executive action for months, angering immigration reform advocates, because he was determined to give the House every last chance to act. Presenting Obama’s executive action on immigration out of context, as Ryan did, is self-serving and deceptive.

If Ryan’s comments on Obama being “untrustworthy” on immigration sound familiar, that’s because we’ve heard these excuses before. Boehner played this same blame game in 2014. “There is widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws,” Boehner said last year, “and it’s going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes.” Yet Obama was responsible for record levels of deportations, in a misguided attempt to prove to Republicans that he could work with them on immigration. Instead, all he got for his efforts was the ire of immigrant and Latino advocacy organizations, and the ugly label “Deporter-in-Chief.”

Sure, coming out against immigration reform will probably win Ryan short-term support among the so-called Freedom Caucus. However, in the long run, he risks losing his influence and position, because Democrats will have a field day mobilizing Latino voters around the immigration issue in the upcoming election. And consider that the public continues to favor letting undocumented immigrants stay here. An August Gallup poll found that 79 percent of Americans support a path to citizenship or legal status for the undocumented, while an NBC News poll found that a majority of Republican voters do as well.

It appears the new House Speaker has learned little from the troubled tenure of his predecessor. Ryan’s readiness to blame Obama for his own lack of leadership on immigration is dangerous for the GOP and bad news for the nation.

Reyes is an attorney and columnist in New York City.