Cuellar on immigration delay: ‘Very surprising’

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) on Tuesday expressed surprise at President Obama’s decision to delay executive action on immigration until after the midterm elections. 

“Certainly we know that there are windows to address controversial issues like immigration, and you don’t do it right before an election. That window was closing,” the conservative Democrat said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

{mosads}”But what was a little surprising of the president, when he said the day before, he decided to postpone this, I think he was in Europe 24 hours before, he said I’m going to work on this real quickly,” said Cuellar, who rankled some in his party by voting with Republicans on their scaled back border package that included a proposal to make it easier to deport child immigrants who crossed the border this year.

The White House announcement Saturday that it was delaying a decision until after the election came a day after Obama told reporters his decision would come “soon.”

“I suspect that on my flight back this will be part of my reading, taking a look at some of the specifics we’ve looked at, and I will be making an announcement soon,” Obama said at a press conference in Wales. 

Cuellar said the time is never going to be politically perfect for immigration reform. He advised the House to get some fortitude and vote. 

“I always say the best window to address it is after an election,” he said. “So hopefully after the election or at the beginning of the year, let’s do it before the 2016 presidential elections come closing — that window closes again.”

Cuellar, a conservative-leaning Democrat from a border district, has been a vocal critic of Obama recently. He has also