Amid the Republican backlash over the Obama administration’s new lenient deportation policy for some illegal immigrants, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) called into question the new order's possible "backdoor" opportunity for illegal immigrants to vote.
"What is going to happen as far as their right to vote?” West said on Fox News Friday. "Is this one of those backdoor opportunities to allow people in the next five months to get the opportunity to vote? Will we see Janet Napolitano and the president come out with a new edict that says since we allow these people to be here legally, we’re now going to allow them to vote? How far down the rabbit hole will it go?"
Republicans are up in arms over Obama's new policy saying the new rules — which will prevent deportations for as many as 800,000 illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children — overstep the law in order to buy Obama support from Hispanics ahead of November's elections, in which the Hispanic vote will likely be crucial.
“This huge policy shift has horrible consequences for unemployed Americans looking for jobs and violates President Obama’s oath to uphold the laws of this land," Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said in a statement. "How can the administration justify allowing illegal immigrants to work in the U.S. when millions of Americans are unemployed? President Obama and his administration once again have put partisan politics and illegal immigrants ahead of the rule of law and the American people.”
West contended the president sidestepped bureaucracy in favor of appeasing Latino interest groups, suggesting the issue should have been put up for public scrutiny.
"I would be very interested to know how close are [Hispanic civil rights] groups like LULAC and [National Council of] La Raza to this decision that’s being made and what impact they had on this executive order and how it’s going to be handed out today," he said. "Why have we not allowed a national debate on this issue?"
