{"id":6460,"date":"2014-04-19T15:54:36","date_gmt":"2014-04-19T19:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=6460"},"modified":"2018-12-28T15:04:33","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T20:04:33","slug":"this-date-in-obamas-administrative-amnesty-april-19-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2014\/04\/19\/this-date-in-obamas-administrative-amnesty-april-19-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"This Date in Obama\u2019s Administrative Amnesty: April 19, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ThisOnly days after launching his 2012 re-election bid, President Obama held an amnesty summit at the White House on April 19, 2011. The President hosted approximately 70 pro-amnesty guests<\/a> including former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti (now mayor), Rev. Al Sharpton, and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. Although the White House press release<\/a> on the meeting stated that the President planned to discuss how to \u201cbuild a bipartisan consensus in Congress\u201d on immigration reform, the White House did not invite any members of Congress or law enforcement representatives.<\/p>\n

Noticeably absent from the discussions was then-Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.), who chaired the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement at the time. Representative Gallegly called the President\u2019s meeting and selective guest list a \u201csummit on amnesty<\/a>,\u201d noting that the attendees \u201cwere obviously people who were not concerned about stopping illegal immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also absent from the White House pow-wow were border state governors<\/a>. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said \u201cit was a little bit of a snub\u201d that neither she nor Texas Governor Rick Perry, both Republicans, received an invitation from the President. Governor Brewer remarked that since she and Gov. Perry are on the front lines working to secure the border, they \u201cshould have been afforded that opportunity, to be at the table to help [Obama] understand the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

One person who did attend the White House meeting, however, was John Wester, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, Utah, and a chief architect<\/a> of The Utah Compact. The Utah Compact is a five-principle outline which urges compassion towards illegal aliens and argues that immigration should be left to the federal government. The leaders of national pro-amnesty groups have spoken out in favor of The Utah Compact and encouraged its principles as a guideline for legislation in the states. Webster reported that The Utah Compact came up during the meeting with the President and suggested it might become a template for an \u201cAmerican Compact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House amnesty summit came at a time when President Obama was under increasing pressure<\/a> to rally his base for the 2012 elections. In an interview with MSNBC, amnesty champion Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said that the President\u2019s failure to act on immigration reform is making it difficult<\/a> for him to support Obama\u2019s reelection.\u00a0 Gutierrez urged the President to create a \u201ccomprehensive\u201d immigration reform agenda and warned that he needed to \u201cshore up his support among the Latino community\u201d in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Read more at FAIR\u2019s President Obama’s Record of Dismantling Immigration Enforcement<\/a>.