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The surge of immigrants flooding into the United States has challenged President Obama and his handling of the crisis, but now he is getting criticism from members of his own party.

The president is facing opposition from fellow Democrats who do not want the burden of housing these immigrant children in their states.

Over the weekend, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell meet with numerous governors trying to solicit there cooperation in housing thousands of these immigrant children from Central America.

Many of the governors of both parties expressed strong concerns over the cost to their states in providing education and other services for these children.

“Our citizens already feel burdened by all kinds of challenges. They don’t want to see another burden come into their state,’ said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat. ‘However we deal with the humanitarian aspects of this, we’ve got to do it in the most cost-effective way possible.”

Colorado News Day reported that under current law, immigrant children from countries that don’t border the United States and who cross into this country by themselves are turned over to HHS within 72 hours. From there, they often are reunited with parents or placed with other relatives already living in the country, while they wait for an immigration court to decide their future. The court process can take years.

The key issue is a provision in a human trafficking law signed by former President George W. Bush, authored by then Senator Joseph Biden, and Democratic Congressman Howard Berman.

Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland, usually a reliable ally of the president got himself into a predicament when he stated, “We are Americans, and we do not return refugee kids who find themselves on our doorstep back into war-torn or famine-racked places where they will face certain death,” O’Malley said. “I think we have to act like Americans.”

Unfortunately, O’Malley had a disagreement with the president’s policy of relocating immigrant children into various parts of the United States, and not wanting them relocated to his state.

On Tuesday, CNN reported that after his strong criticism of the Obama administration’s plans to return thousands of young undocumented migrants back to Central America, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley asked a top White House official that the children not be sent to a site that was under consideration in his home state, sources familiar with the conversation said.

“He privately said ‘please don’t send these kids to Western Maryland,'” a Democratic source told CNN. The heated discussion between O’Malley and White House domestic policy adviser Cecilia Munoz occurred during a phone call late Friday evening, sources familiar with the conversation added.

Currently there is a conflict on what was said, but Democrats are now also concerned about the relocation of immigrants to their states.

One only has to look back in history when then President Carter began the relocation of Cuban refugees and tried to relocate them across the country it almost derailed the political career of then Governor Bill Clinton.

The Pew Research Center reported President Obama gets very low ratings for his handling of the issue. Just 28% of the public approves of the way he is handling the surge of children from Central America, while twice as many (56%) disapprove. That is one of the lowest ratings for his handling of any issue since he became president. But Obama’s overall job rating is virtually unchanged from April: 44% approve of his job performance while 49% disapprove.

The president has to begin taking the lead on this issue or forced being overwhelmed by events.  Both the President and Republicans also need to come up with a workable comprehensive immigration policy, and quit playing politics with this issue.