Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) accused the White House on Saturday of playing politics with immigration reform, after President Obama delayed meeting with congressional leaders to discuss the topic this upcoming week.
The longtime anti-illegal-immigration lawmaker questioned the administration’s motives in setting up a bipartisan meeting with members of Congress on comprehensive reform only to exclude key GOP members, on both sides of the dome, from the session that White House officials announced last Friday had to be rescheduled for the second time.
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), a close friend of Bilbray’s despite their opposing positions on the issue, pledged to make comprehensive immigration reform happen before the end of the 111th Congress.
“As far as I’m concerned, we have three major issues we have to do this year, if at all possible: No. 1 is healthcare; No 2 is energy, global warming; No. 3 is immigration reform,” Reid said on June 4.