Illegal Immigrant Children Crisis The Fault Of George W. Bush, Not Obama?

The issue of what to do about the 50,000 and rising flood of illegal immigrant children has both parties pointing fingers. But are the problems associated with illegal immigrants the fault of former President George W. Bush and not President Obama due to a bill signed into law in 2008?

In a related report by The Inquisitr, illegal immigrant children are like “baby Jesus” or Moses” according to Nancy Pelosi, who echoes President Obama by calling the immigration crisis a “humanitarian crisis” that needs a softer touch. But militias in Texas would disagree since they headed to the Mexican border to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing while armed with guns.

The Obama administration seems to have a long history of playing the blame game. Bad economy? Blame Bush. Iraq falters under ISIS attacks? Blame Bush. Now that the House Of Representatives has attempted to pass a immigration reform bill that deals with some of the problems related to the incoming wave of illegal immigrants, President Obama is continuing the blame game again, this time shifting his target at Congress:

“House Republicans, as we speak, are trying to pass the most extreme and unworkable versions of a bill that they already know is going nowhere, that can’t pass the Senate, and that if it were to pass the Senate, I would veto. They know it. They’re not even trying to actually solve the problem. This is a message bill that they couldn’t quite pull off yesterday, so they made it a little more extreme so maybe they can pass it today, just so they can check a box before they’re leaving town for a month.”

Republicans accuse the President of attempting to grant amnesty via executive order and point out that the Democrat-controlled Senate did not pass a bill at all. They believe the focus should be on securing the border.

So why is George W. Bush to blame for the illegal immigrant children? The reason this is claimed is because Bush signed into law the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which is an anti-human trafficking law which prevents the government from quickly deporting minors not eligible for asylum in the United States. This point is important since the 50,000 unaccompanied minors are largely from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

But Republicans point out Obama left out any reform on that issue when he requested $3.7 billion as part of his emergency border package. Even Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who was an author of the 2008 bill, believes the law she helped create included an “exceptional circumstances” clause that should apply to the current illegal immigrant children crisis. Texas Democratic Senator Henry Cuellar wants to make the law even more specific by passing a bill that would allow the government to treat these particular children the same as kids from Mexico, and even the House bill is proposing a similar modification. Even then, Democratic Senator Robert Menendez claims the 2008 law passed by George W. Bush has nothing to do with the current crisis despite Obama’s protestations to the contrary.

So why do Republicans blame President Obama for the illegal immigrant children crisis? In June of 2012, the White House issued an executive order called Deferred Acton for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which prevents U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement from deporting minors and even temporarily authorizes these children to work for up to two years (which is renewable). Obama issued the DACA memorandum after the DREAM Act failed to pass Congress, although DACA only defers removal from America and does not provide a direct path to citizenship. Regardless, the House is also trying to pass a bill that would block DACA since it plays a large part in why illegal immigrant children are being housed throughout the country instead of being deported.

Who do you think is to blame for the illegal immigrant children crisis; President Obama or George W. Bush? Or do you think they both share blame for not pushing through immigration reform before the situation became so bad?