Washington, June 5 (RHC)-- U.S. President Barack Obama is delaying a review of his administration’s controversial deportation practices until after the summer.
The U.S. president had ordered U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to look into legal ways to scale back deportations amid rising pressure from civil rights groups who have dubbed him the "deporter-in-chief." Proposals have included limiting the deportations of undocumented immigrants who do not have criminal records, who account for some two-thirds of the two million people Obama has deported.
But the White House now says Obama wants to put off any potential reforms to avoid angering House Republicans and dooming chances of passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year.
House Republicans have refused to take up immigration reform despite the Senate’s passage of a bipartisan measure offering a path to citizenship, one year ago next month. A top White House adviser says Obama plans to give Republicans one more chance to negotiate a compromise measure.