Breitbart News -- Caroline May
Following the Obama administration’s admission that it granted executive amnesty to a known gang member — currently charged with the murder of four people in Charlotte, NC — the trio Tuesday introduced legislation to prohibit gang members from receiving such immigration benefits.
While Congress was unable to stop President Obama's executive actions on immigration, a series of court cases that are making their way through the system may be able to do just that. Currently, there are court cases dealing with a wide array of issues, including amnesty and work permits for millions of illegal aliens to programs that hurt both low and high-skill American workers.
The Blaze -- Pete Kasperowicz
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told the Senate Tuesday that he has no regrets at all for going around Congress to implement President Barack Obama’s several immigration-related executive actions.
“Do you regret the actions that you and the administration have taken that have gotten us to this point?” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked Johnson at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
New figures provided to Congress show that deportation rates have taken a steep dive, another 25%, so far this year. For the first six months of FY 2015, which began Oct. 1, 2014, only 117,181 illegal aliens were removed. Compared to the 157,365 illegal immigrants deported during the same period last year, the statistics suggest President Obama's executive actions on immigration have significantly reduced total deportations.
The Blaze -- Pete Kasperowicz
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has admitted that made a grave error in 2013 when it agreed to spare a known gang member from deportation — a man who is now charged with the murder of three people in North Carolina.
Chicago Sun Times -- Jan C. Ting
In 2002, in the case of Hoffman Plastic Compounds v. NLRB, the Supreme Court found “combatting the employment of illegal aliens in the United States central to the policy of immigration law.”
The Washington Times’ Stephan Dinan explored one product of President Obama’s decision to relocate and care for, rather than deport unaccompanied alien children that surged over the southern border. He found that some of the minors have been charged with serious crimes such as murder and aggravated rape – a harbinger of problems to come this year as DHS begins to handle another surge. This undermines Obama's "felons, not families" rationale for his November 2014 amnesties, which are now the subject of litigation in a Texas District court
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the ICE Agents and the State of Mississippi lacked standing to sue over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program President Obama set up in 2012, Politico reports. Upholding a district court ruling, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit said the plaintiffs’ argument that the program would cause them harm was speculative.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen denied a Justice Department request late Tuesday night to lift his injunction on President Obama's plan to grant executive amnesty and work permits to five million illegal aliens. The judge issued his injunction on February 16, just days before the Department of Homeland Security was to start processing amnesty applications, while the case brought by 26 states was being decided.
Breitbart News -- Lana Shadwick
DREAMers and their supporters were on the Texas Capitol steps early this morning in preparation for lobbying legislators on S.B. 1819. They are in Austin to speak to the Texas Senate’s Sub-Committee on Border Security. The sub-committee is part of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations. The bill would remove in-state tuition eligibility for certain children who came to America illegally.
A poll released today by Rasmussen found that likely American voters disagree with President Obama on several issues, including immigration enforcement, birthright citizenship, and executive amnesty overall.
The Observer -- Jillian Jorgensen
President Barack Obama’s immigration reform executive order may be tied up in federal court—but that hasn’t stopped the New York City Council from getting ready to implement it, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito told the Observer.
Rep. Paul Gosar, Ariz., and 14 other House Republicans asked appropriators developing the fiscal year 2016 DHS spending bill to prohibit funding for the president’s most recent executive amnesties. Now that the House budget resolution has passed, House Appropriations Committees will begin to draft FY ’16 spending bills after Members return from recess.
The Senate passed a border amendment to its budget resolution late Thursday night that attempts to prevent future border surges like the one experienced last summer along the U.S.-Mexico border. The amendment, offered by Sen. John McCain (#360), passed by a 58-to-42 margin, but not before a bit of drama.
Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., and other House Democrats announced their new "Family Defender Toolkit," which is designed to help illegal aliens avoid deportation if they are detained by an ICE agent, and to gather the documents necessary to apply for President Obama’s executive amnesties. House Democrats have been holding events around to country to educate illegal aliens about the DAPA and expanded DACA amnesties.
The Senate is considering amendments to the fiscal year 2016 budget resolution under a so-called vote-a-rama that could produce votes on at least 100 amendments. The budget resolution is not an appropriations or substantive bill; it lays out Congress’ spending and policy objectives for a given fiscal year and is non-binding. In the realm of immigration, amendments are expected that instruct Congress to clarify birthright citizenship and massively increase the number of work permits issued to foreign tech workers.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will hold a hearing on the Justice Department’s request to stay Judge Andrew Hanen’s temporary injunction in the case lodged by 26 governors and attorneys general against the Administration and its executive amnesties. The court also agreed to take up an expedited appeal of the merits of Judge Hanen's injunctive order.
South Texas College of Law professor Josh Blackman debunks the Justice Department's claim that Pres. Obama's unconstitutional amnesties were about boosting national security in an article published in the National Review. The Justice Department tried to argue before Federal District Judge Andrew Hanen last week that Obama's amnesties were an attempt to bring bring illegal aliens "out of the shadows" and that work permits and social security cards were used as an 'incentive' to sign up.
At a hearing on her nomination to become Deputy Attorney General, Sally Yates refused to answer a Senator’s question about whether she personally considered the President’s executive amnesties to be lawful. However, citing her role as Acting Deputy Attorney General, Yates said she stands by the Administration's pleadings in cases before a federal district judge in Texas and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a report in Politico.
Christian Post -- Phyllis Schlafly
Seeing as the costs will come due only after Barack Obama has left the White House, I guess he doesn't care how high those costs are. But the costs are horrendous, as just added up by our country's foremost authority on such things, Robert Rector of The Heritage Foundation.
The Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee heard testimony from Kris Kobach citing three reasons why the president's executive amnesties are unlawful: “(1) the executive actions do not comply with the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA); (2) even if they did comply with the APA, they would still be in direct violation of substantive provisions of federal law; and (3) even if they did not violate federal law, they would still be unconstitutional.”
The House Committee on the Judiciary yesterday approved a bill that would recognize a state’s inherent authority to enforce federal immigration laws and negate the president’s unconstitutional executive amnesties. The committee also endorsed a bill that would strengthen asylum standards in a manner that prevents the “rubberstamping” of fraudulent claims and effectively ends the process of “catch and release.”
A study by Robert Rector estimates that illegal aliens receiving executive amnesty will receive well over a trillion dollars in Social Security and Medicare benefits. The study comes as part of prepared testimony that Rector gave to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the high entitlement costs of granting legal status to millions of illegal aliens.
Responding to an information request from Senate Republicans, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency estimated it may have to hire 3,100 new staff to implement the Deferred Action to Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program at a cost of up to $484 million a year. Another 400 staff are needed to implement an expanded version of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) program.
As part of an operation targeting dangerous criminal aliens, ICE arrested 15 illegal aliens who had been given a work permit and Social Security card under Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, according to the Associated Press. This revelation undermines the probity of DACA since it was billed as a program to help conscientious young illegal aliens get an education and eventually benefit society.
Administration officials have been telling the media that federal judge Andrew Hanen's injunction against President Obama's November executive actions on immigration limits the administration's ability to prioritize deportations. President Obama says that's nonsense.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals today denied the Obama Administration's request for an expedited ruling on Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction blocking President Obama's executive amnesties.
Join The Fight Against Obama's Amnesty -- Add Your Name Here
A Center for Immigration Studies' report released today shows that the Obama administration has prioritized the processing of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program applications by pulling resources away from processing select legal immigration applications.
A group of Senators led by Chuck Grassley of Iowa introduced a bill that would disallow the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for illegal aliens given amnesty under the President’s November 2014 executive actions. “This tax credit is meant to help the working poor get into the workforce,” Grassley said. “It isn’t meant to benefit individuals who aren’t authorized to work in the United States.”
The Center for Immigration Studies published online for the first time an evaluation of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act amnesty. The publication contains a new foreword by one of the original authors that suggests IRCA’s extensive fraud will repeat under Obama’s amnesties, especially since they do not incorporate fraud protections.
A Social Security Administration (SSA) official told Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) that illegal aliens who receive amnesty and work permits under President Obama's executive amnesty will soon also be able to collect Social Security benefits. The SSA official was responding to a letter sent to the agency by Sen. Johnson on the topic.
In a court filing Justice Department attorneys informed Judge Andrew Hanen that 100,000 DACA program recipients received extended benefits, including work permits, prior to when the judge issued an injunction halting all program activity. Under prior direct questioning by the judge on the subject benefit issuance, Justice attorneys omitted having issued benefits before DACA’s February 18 start date.
The House approved long-term funding today for the Department of Homeland Security that would allow the Obama administration to move forward with its unconstitutional executive amnesties should the courts reverse its temporary injunction. Today's vote in the House was the final step in securing funding for the department through the end of September.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, issued the statement below today as the House readied a vote on the Senate-passed Homeland Security spending bill that excluded restrictions on President Obama’s executive amnesties.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced during a closed-door meeting with House Republicans this morning that they will vote on the Senate-passed version of the DHS funding bill that provides full funding for Pres. Obama's unconstitutional amnesties. Boehner called the vote a "full cave" in their efforts to stop Obama's actions and expected the vote to take place later today.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) warned democrats that their support for President Obama's Executive amnesty will undermine the rule of law and they could regret years from now.
“…I’ll make you this promise,” Gowdy warned, “There will come a day where you will cry out for the enforcement of the law. There will come a day when you long for the law to be the foundation of this republic.”
Gowdy made these comments during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Obama’s action.
Tonight, the House passed a one-week extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Senate followed suit. The votes capped off a volatile day in which, for the most part, Republicans fought to defund President Obama’s executive amnesties after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., caved to Democrats who had been blocking the agency's funding.
The Senate passed a DHS spending bill after Senators succeeded in stripping language that would have defunded President Obama’s executive amnesties. Going back on their deal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Democrats blocked from consideration separate legislation to defund the executive amnesty announced on 11/20/14. Meanwhile, the House failed to pass a continuing resolution that would extend funding for the Homeland Security Department through March 19th. Speaker John Boehner will continue to seek votes tonight as the midnight funding deadline looms.
The Senate began a number of votes this morning on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, including on one amendment to strip House-passed language that defunds the president’s executive amnesties. The existing DHS continuing resolution expires at midnight tonight. The House is scheduled to take up another continuing resolution today to avert a funding gap.
Senate Democrats accepted Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) deal yesterday to end their filibuster of the House-passed DHS funding bill, H.R.240. By a 98-to-2 margin, the Senate approved a procedural motion, allowing the bill to come to the floor. McConnell is expected to offer an amendment today that would strip out the two immigration amendments inserted by the House before moving to a final vote on the bill.
Zogby Analytics, February 20-22
Polling of voters in eight swing states finds that they are overwhelmingly opposed to President Obama’s abuse of executive power to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens in the U.S. By better than 2-1 margins, voters in these states oppose the president’s amnesty plan.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced a plan on Tuesday that would allow a vote on a "clean" DHS funding bill that would fully fund Pres. Obama's unconstitutional amnesties. The plan hinges on a possible deal with Senate Democrats that would require them to allow debate on a separate measure that would defund the president's 2014 executive amnesties. The move came a day after Senate Democrats, along with Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), blocked debate on the House-passed DHS funding bill, H.R.240.
In an open letter to Congress, the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) invoked the memory of the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-Texas) by calling on Members of Congress "to not only stop but to reverse the illegal over reach of this administration" on immigration. Barbara Jordan chaired the bipartisan commission that made several recommendations to Congress, including reducing overall immigration numbers and strengthening interior enforcement.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Friday said the Justice Department will seek an emergency stay to block a federal court ruling that freezes implementation of the president’s executive amnesty. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction temporarily prohibited the issuance of work permits and other documents to certain illegal aliens and blocked spending for the program’s planning.
This week, a federal judge temporarily halted President Obama's most recent executive actions on immigration. But what exactly does that mean? Josh Gerstein of Politico explained the decision as well as anyone.
On Tuesday President Obama announced the Department of Homeland Security would not process executive amnesty applications, and hand out related work permits, in light of the Feb. 16 injunction by Judge Andrew Hanen. He will, however, continue to spend funds in preparation for implementation, which appears to violate Judge Hanen’s injunction, according to the Daily Caller.
United States District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled late Monday night to temporarily block certain executive actions President Obama took late last year that would grant amnesty and work permits to an estimated 5 million illegal aliens. In the wake of the ruling, several Members of Congress have issued statements applauding the injunction and doubling down on their commitment to pass a DHS spending bill that blocks funding for President Obama's executive amnesties.
The fact that the judicial branch has joined the House of Representatives and a majority of states in questioning the constitutionality of the President's executive actions on immigration should make it obvious that the Senate needs to proceed to a debate on the Department of Homeland Security funding bill and add its voice to this critical constitutional question.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen has temporarily blocked Pres. Obama's executive amnesties, saying the action "substantially changes both the status and employability of millions" of illegal aliens. The ruling came in response to the lawsuit filed by 26 states against the administration that argues that Obama's amnesties will place an undue burden on state budgets.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), along with 169 other House Republicans, sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) last week urging him to stop obstructing debate on the Department of Homeland Security spending bill that would also block the funding of President Obama's executive amnesties. In the letter, they charged that Senate Democrats are choosing to defend President Obama's unconstitutional actions by not even allowing debate of the bill.
