U.S. House Speaker rules out work with Obama

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan ruled out working with President Barack Obama on overhauling U.S. immigration policy.

In an interview taped on Friday (October 30) and broadcast Sunday (November 1) on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Ryan said he would not pursue legislation on immigration because Obama took unilateral steps that bypassed a gridlocked Congress to try to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.

“The president has proven himself untrustworthy on this issue, because he tried to unilaterally rewrite the law himself,” Ryan told “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd. “Presidents don’t write laws. Congress does. I think if we reach consensus on something like border enforcement, interior security, that’s one thing. But I do not believe we should advance comprehensive immigration legislation with a president who’s proven himself untrustworthy on this issue.”

Obama’s executive orders, announced last November but put on hold by the courts, would let up to 4.7 million illegal immigrants stay without threat of deportation. It was aimed mainly at helping 4.4 million people whose children are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.

The immigration issue has driven a wedge between Hispanics, an increasingly important voting bloc, and Republicans, many of whom take a hard line on illegal immigration, to the benefit of Obama’s fellow Democrats. Most of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States are Hispanic.

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, was chosen as speaker on Thursday (October 29) to replace the retiring John Boehner. He said he took the job because he felt the Republican party needed to take a different direction.

“It’s not a job I ever wanted,” he told Todd. “But I really felt like our party needed to unify. I don’t think we can keep doing business the way we’ve been doing business. And I think we really have to be on offense and offer the country alternatives. And that’s what I intend to do, with my conference.”