Immigration Reform 2014: Rick Perry Thinks Federal Government Should Pay for National Guard Troops; Undocumented Immigrants Protest Outside White House

After Rick Perry announced to the world last week that he would be sending 1,000 National Guard troops to the border -- a move that will cost $1.3 million per week, while also bypassing the federal government -- it wasn't clear who would be footing the bill for the border business. Well, now that there's been a bit of backlash against the plan, Perry is now saying that the money for the troops will not be coming out of the Texas budget. Rather, he's going to ask the same government that he bypassed with his decision to deploy troops to foot the bill.

According to The Daily Signal, no matter what (President Barack) Obama decides to do, Perry has said he intends to ask the federal government to pay for his deployment of 1,000 troops, estimated to cost $12 million a month.

“It’s a powerful reminder that what you are doing is a crime,” Perry told The Signal in regards to the youth that may cross the border while passing the National Guard troops. “It’s just like a law enforcement effort in your neighborhood, where you see a parked patrol police car on the corner, and the bad guys see it and don’t commit a crime.”

A number of critics have stepped forward to speak out against Perry's border plan -- including the U.S. Border Patrol, who are concerned that the National Guard troops lack the training to properly handle undocumented immigrants.

In response, Perry told the Signal that he is not granting the troops the authority to make arrests.

But critics aren't only pointing the finger at Texas' Governor. They're also pointing it at the White House -- and this time, they've got a lot more to lose.

A group of ndocumented immigrants protested in front of the White House on Monday, asking that national advocacy groups boycott meetings with President Barack Obama until more information is given on how the President will use his executive powers to clean up the mess with immigration laws. 

The protesters, who had quite a bit to lose, considering their status within the United States, made surprise visits to the Center for American Progress, National Immigration Forum and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights before taking the demonstration to the front of the White House..

The campaign, which was organized by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, is concerned that President Obama is aiming to lower expectations for the abilities of his executive authority by simply not involving activists, and that in turn, the advocacy groups will fall in line. The group wants more transparency on what the President plans to do with the powers he's given.

“We have one shot to convince him to do the right thing,” reads the letter delivered to the offices. “And we must unite to defend the decision if and when he does. It is clear that the people best qualified to make the case to the President are those immigrants who are harmed by status quo and who stand to be benefited by administrative relief.”

President Obama has vowed to use his executive authority to address the immigration crisis in the United States. He has pledged to do as much as possible without the help of Congress to aid the influx of undocumented immigrants, but has also asked the advocates to have “right-size expectations” about the limitations of those powers.