House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) reiterated Tuesday that he believes that the major impediment to moving forward with comprehensive immigration reform is a distrust of President Obama, and not an unwillingness of the members of his caucus to take up the legislation.
Boehner and other House GOP leaders have said that they believe immigration reform should be passed this year, but several other prominent conservatives have said that passing immigration reform prior to the 2014 midterm elections would hurt Republicans' chances of winning the House.
During the recent congressional recess, a video of Boehner seemingly mocked House Republicans for their unwillingness to get an immigration deal done.
“’Ohh, don't make me do this, ohh this is too hard," Boehner says in the remarks, mimicking the whining he hears from members of his caucus.
Boehner reassured members of the GOP House caucus during a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning that he was not mocking them and that he believes Obama is the reason immigration reform has not moved forward.
"There was no mocking," Boehner told reporters this morning. "You tease the ones you love. ... But some people misunderstood what I had to say. So I wanted to make sure the members understood the biggest impediment we have in moving immigration reform is that the American people don't trust the president to enforce or implement the law that we may or may not pass."
