A Recap: Obama's Unlawful Immigration Amnesty Has No Appeal
Published on June 3rd, 2015
For years the Obama administration has run roughshod over the immigration system. It is inconceivable that any rational leader would refuse to enforce immigration laws that serve as America’s first line of defense and last line of defense against international terrorists and transnational criminals, especially in this perilous era.
At a time when tens of millions of American workers, through no fault of their own, find themselves unemployed and under-employed it is no less confounding that the president would believe that it is sensible to provide millions of aliens who evaded the vital inspections process conducted at ports of entry by CBP (Customs and Border Protection), an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, with employment authorization as a way to help our foundering economy.
In my judgment, this makes about as much sense as sitting in a boat, finding water leaking in and declaring that the solution is to drill holes in the bottom of the boat in the hope that the water filling the boat will magically flow out of them.
On June 15, 2012, the president held a news conference in the White House Rose Garden, blaming Congress’ failure to act, and said that through “prosecutorial discretion” he would essentially enact the DREAM Act, without benefit of legislation. He made good on that promise, turning the Constitutional process of checks and balances on its ear by creating the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) Program.
Two days later, on June 17, 2012, Fox News Latino published my commentary in response to this ill-conceived program, with the description, “Obama Orders Prosecutorial Deception, Obama’s unprecedented expansion of prosecutorial discretion skirts Congress and undermines the Constitution, argues former INS agent Michael Cutler.”
This program ultimately provided temporary lawful status and employment authorization to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens’ “children” who may be as old as 31 years of age, provided that they claimed to have entered the United States by age 15. There is not integrity to this process. No face-to-face interviews were conducted, and no field investigations were conducted to verify that the information contained in those applications is true and accurate.
Obama was emboldened by his success and the fact that he essentially faced no meaningful resistance from Congressional leaders from either party in both houses of Congress. Obviously the leaders of both parties are thrilled to flood America with millions of foreign workers and foreign students to placate their campaign contributors. Obama then went on to release hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens. Among them were criminals who had been convicted of manslaughter and other violent crimes.
Again, the response from Congressional leadership amounted to little more than ineffectual bluff and bluster.
Once again, the Obama steamroller revved up its engine and announced that the parents of the DACA “children” and other family members would now be granted similar lawful status, whereupon governors of a number of states, led by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, sued the administration to block the administration’s plan known as DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents).
In February, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas blocked the programs, holding that the administration had failed to comply with the procedural requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act, a federal statute that sets out rules for the way that federal agencies can establish regulations.
On May 27, 2015, as reported in the CNN report, “Federal appeals court sides with Texas against Obama on immigration,” the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the appeal filed by the administration, and the White House responded:
Brandi Hoffine, a White House spokeswoman, said the judges in the Fifth Circuit ‘chose to misinterpret the facts and the law’ in their ruling denying the request for a stay.
‘President Obama's immigration executive actions are fully consistent with the law,’ Hoffine said. ‘The President's actions were designed to bring greater accountability to our broken immigration system, grow the economy, and keep our communities safe.’
In point of fact, providing lawful status and identity documents to aliens who cannot prove who they are not only violates commonsense but the findings and recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.
This program would also create unfair competition for beleaguered American workers and their families. A true “Lose-Lose!”
It is interesting that the issue of “accountability” was raised by the White House – it is high time that the administration was made accountable.
Pennsylvania Congressman Lou Barletta will have the last word in my commentary. On December 2, 2014, he questioned Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson about amnesty and the 9/11 Commission report at a hearing. The video is worth watching. During their exchange Barletta said, in part, “When it comes to illegal immigration, the conversation is always about the illegal immigrant and not about the (American) people it would affect…and it’s not fair.”