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Washington • Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Friday that while he doesn't agree with President Barack Obama's executive orders on immigration reform, they underscore the frustration across America with congressional inaction on the long-simmering issue.
"The solution is: 'Congress get off your fanny and get something done,' " Herbert said at the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington.
Utah was one of 26 states that sued the federal government over Obama's orders that could affect millions of immigrants in the country illegally, leading to a federal injunction against their implementation. The White House said Friday it would seek an emergency stay of Texas District Judge Andrew Hanen's ruling while an appeal is being prepared.
Herbert said the concern isn't with the substance of Obama's actions but with the unilateral approach.
"I don't support the president with the executive order going beyond the scope of his [authority]," Herbert said. "[It] doesn't mean his idea is not a good one; that's not it."
As governors gather this weekend for their semiannual meeting, immigration is likely to be a hot topic — Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson meets with the group Sunday. But Republicans and Democrats say they're weary of waiting for Congress to pass meaningful reform. Several states have plunged into the void with their own piecemeal approaches to immigration. Utah, for example, issues driving-privilege cards to undocumented residents and, in 2011, approved a state guest-worker program, endorsed by Herbert, that was never implemented.
"I feel the exact same frustration the president does," said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.
Congress is mired in a partisan fight over Obama's executive orders that could leave the Homeland Security Department unfunded at month's end. The GOP-run House passed a funding bill for the department that would gut Obama's actions, and Democrats are now blocking that legislation in the Republican-controlled Senate.
In announcing his executive orders in November, Obama said he was doing so only because Congress hadn't acted.
"To those members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill," Obama said. "I want to work with both parties to pass a more permanent legislative solution. And the day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary."
Easier said than done.
The Senate last session passed a comprehensive immigration bill — Sen. Orrin Hatch voted for it, Sen. Mike Lee against — but the House refused to take up the bill.
Herbert's response to Obama's orders mirrors that of fellow conservatives who want immigration reform but don't want the president to go it alone. Hatch, for example, says he shares "some of the same policy goals" as Obama but insists that Congress has the sole authority to make them happen.
Herbert, the vice chairman of the National Governors Association, said in a roundtable with reporters that Congress has the right to try to upend Obama's actions by using the "power of the purse" with Homeland Security funding but that it also has the duty to pass legislation.
"If all they do is secure the borders — everyone agrees with that — OK, that's step one," Herbert said. "Then go to step two and step three, and build on securing the borders. There's no reason they should sit there and do nothing."
J. Michael Clara, former chairman of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly and a Salt Lake City School Board member, says Obama was right to step in with executive orders in the void of congressional action.
Clara said he has helped several young immigrants take advantage of Obama's actions to halt deportations of children brought into the country illegally.
"Even if I had process issues with what the president did, I can put those aside because it's amazing what it does on the community level for these kids," Clara said. "If you're about justice and equity and doing what's right, these kids should not suffer for nothing that they've done."
A study released last November by the Migration Policy Institute said Utah had the highest-in-the-nation percentage of its undocumented population that could benefit from Obama's new immigration executive orders.
The group estimated 55 percent of undocumented Utahns — about 48,000 people — could be shielded from deportation through the action. The orders, affecting an estimated 5 million nationwide, focused on those with close family members who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, have been in America for at least five years, and have clean criminal records.