Bob Goodlatte: Stopping unconstitutional immigration actions

Last month, President Obama announced one of the biggest executive power grabs in American history. He declared unilaterally that millions of unlawful immigrants can stay in the U.S. without facing the consequences of violating immigration laws. Congress has not yet agreed on how to reform the immigration system, but the president has decided to ignore the Constitution and alter the law without new statutes. This is a slap in the face of the American people, who voted on November 4th to change the way Washington operates.

President Obama’s unilateral actions pose a danger to our government’s system of checks and balances and imperil individual liberty. Congress must fight to stop these unconstitutional actions from being implemented. Now that Republicans control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, we have more tools at our disposal to fight the President’s executive overreach on immigration.
Here are several actions I support taking to fight President Obama’s abuse of power:

Prohibit Funding for Executive Amnesty: Congress should prohibit and stop the use of funding from any source for the President’s executive amnesty programs.

Taking Legal Action: Congress should file a lawsuit to stop President Obama’s rewriting of our nation’s immigration laws in order to restore the separation of powers in the Constitution and to force President Obama to faithfully execute the laws of the land.

Support States Who Are Fighting the President’s Actions: Recently, 25 states filed a lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive overreach on immigration. I joined the American Center for Law and Justice and several other Members of Congress, including Senator Ted Cruz, in signing an amicus brief to the federal court in support of the states’ lawsuit.

Pass Border Security and Interior Enforcement Legislation: Congress should pass legislation to secure our borders, guarantee the enforcement of our immigration laws in the interior of the United States by granting states and localities specific congressional authorization to pass and enforce their own immigration laws, and ensure that American jobs are preserved for citizens and legal immigrants by making employers use the E-Verify system to screen out unlawful alien job-seekers.

In the coming days and weeks, I will work with my colleagues in both the House and Senate to continue to fight the President’s unconstitutional actions. While opinions differ on exactly how to amend our immigration laws, one thing is certain: The president has no authority to make these decisions on his own.