We face a crisis across our nation as millions of illegal immigrants have streamed into our country, overwhelming our nation’s resources and often endangering the lives those who make the journey. The failure of this administration and past administrations to secure our border and fully enforce immigration law undermines our sovereignty, public safety, and the economic security of American citizens.
On Thursday night, President Obama addressed the nation and announced that he will issue executive orders to effectively grant legal status to nearly five million illegal immigrants. I am very disappointed by the President’s decision to defy the Constitution and American law by issuing these executive orders, which will only compound these serious problems we already face by inviting more illegal border crossings.
The House has passed legislation to help address the root causes of this crisis – our failure to secure the border and our failure to adhere to the rule of law. Back in August, we passed critical legislation to stop the flow of illegal border crossings by sending targeted resources to bolster our border security personnel, allowing border states to deploy the National Guard, providing persons who illegally entered the country a safe, expeditious return to their home countries, and implementing meaningful reforms that will discourage, rather than encourage, illegal immigration. These bills, like so many others, are still awaiting consideration in the Senate.
President Obama has acknowledged time and time again that the Constitution limits the authority of the executive branch to act unilaterally to change the law, yet he has decided to act contrary to his constitutional powers and without the consent of Congress to effectively grant legal status to nearly five million illegal immigrants. In fact, he has publicly stated at least 22 times that he does not have the ability to act unilaterally or ignore immigration law. Yet, on Thursday night, he told the American people he will do exactly that.
Once again, the President has chosen political expediency over working together with a new duly-elected House and Senate to fix our broken immigration system. This is not the way our government should work. In the Constitution, our Founders established a system of government with separate powers and explicit checks and balances, and this President must abide by the Constitution and act within the bounds established in it. I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to stop this affront to our Constitution, to strengthen the security at our border, and to implement an immigration policy that is rooted in the rule of law.
If you need any additional information or if we may be of assistance to you, please visit my website at hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
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