Meng Welcomes President's Use of Executive Action on Immigration

Statement

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) tonight welcomed President Obama's use of executive action to protect millions of immigrants from deportation, just one week after she signed a letter to the President asking him to do so.

"I welcome the President's broad and bold step to improve the nation's broken immigration system," said Meng. "Of course, I prefer Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform; but with the GOP leadership still refusing to act, the President had no choice but to use his authority; the same authority that previous presidents have also used on immigration. Nearly a year-and-a-half after the Senate approved bipartisan legislation to overhaul our county's immigration laws, the bill continues to hang in limbo. Families remain separated, people continue to live in the shadows and progress is virtually non-existent."

"For far too long, our country's immigration laws have failed to work for the American people, and the President agreed that maintaining the status quo can no longer be an option," added Meng. "While I welcome the President's decision, there is still much more that needs to be done to fix the nation's dysfunctional immigration system, and I hope President Obama will do more should the next Congress still fail to move forward. As the daughter of immigrants and somebody who has long advocated for comprehensive immigration reform, I believe it is critical that everybody in the U.S. have the opportunity to achieve the American dream."

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