Hours before Congress reached an impasse in extending funding to the Department of Homeland Security, President Barack Obama was in South Florida decrying Republicans' attacks on his immigration executive action.
"If McConnell, the leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the House John Boehner want to have a vote on whether what I'm doing is legal or not, they can have that vote. I will veto that vote," Obama said at Wednesday's bilingual town hall meeting on the Florida International University Campus.
Early in the discussion, the President chastised Republicans for "trying to hold hostage" DHS funds in retribution over Obama's attempt to protect millions of undocumented immigrants. He cited the nation's ever-changing demographics, which, according to the Pew Research Center, expects the Latino vote to double by 2030. In 2012, the nation's Hispanic population accounted for 17 percent of the country's total population, but only accounted for 10 percent of total electorate votes.
"We have appealed it very aggressively," Obama said. "We're going to be as aggressive as we can because not only do we know that the law is on our side, but history is also on our side." Obama vowed to veto any measures that tried to dismantle his executive action.
Obama's remarks come as a Texas judge last week issued an injunction halting the President's immigration reform plan, which would have shielded about a third of immigrants living in the United States from deportation. More than half of U.S. states - mostly Southern and Midwestern states - are now suing Obama over his amnesty agenda.
Protestors gathered outside the university with signs that read "Obama Jihadist Cowards," and "Freedom for Cuba Helping Castro is a Crime." The meeting itself, broadcast on Spanish-language network Telemundo, was met with moments of skepticism as to whether Obama was really behind Hispanic voters, or if he was using the platform for political gain.
Moderator José Díaz-Balart of MSNBC challenged the President at times, at one point contending that Latino voters worry about being able to affect the political process. Obama said pressure must stay on Congress and Republicans to meet him halfway; to back a long-term solution to giving undocumented immigrants permanent residency.
"This is going to get solved because at some point there's going to be a President Rodriguez or there's going to be a President Chen," Obama said to loud applause. "The country is a nation of immigrants, and ultimately it will reflect who we are and its politics are going to reflect who we are."
DHS funding ends at midnight on Friday, leaving the House with few options but to extend the deadline to March 19. House Republicans would then have three more weeks to draw a more concise bill aimed at blocking Obama's immigration reform order.
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