House Dems Blast "Anti-Obama" Immigration Bill

House Democrats blasted a bill drawn up by Texas Republican Lamar Smith that would strip executive powers from President Obama to use discretion in immigration cases for the rest of his first term. 

The Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation (HALT) Act would suspend the discretionary powers of the president in certain immigration cases until January 21, 2013. In a memo to colleagues, Smith wrote that the bill “would restore these powers to the next president whom the American people elect - on January22, 2013.”

Rep. Louis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), along with Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee, (D-Texas), Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Howard Berman (D-Calif.), argued that the bill was “a direct and blatant attack” on the legal judgement and intellect of President Obama.

“It is not that Lamar Smith thinks these types of powers should not be used by presidents of the United States, it’s just this president he doesn’t like,” Gutierrez argued. “[The HALT Act] turns the immigration issue into a game of ‘political gotcha’.”

Just over a decade ago, Smith wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Janet Reno requesting that President Bill Clinton exercise his discretionary powers more frequently so as to relieve the burden of good-standing immigrants. Gutierrez used this as ammunition against the Texas Republican.

“This kind of partisan political attack really demeans who he is,” Gutierrez said of Smith. “He’s better than this.”