House Votes To Dismantle Obama’s Immigration Orders

Last week, the Republican-led House of Representatives voted on amendments that would cancel many of the protections offered to undocumented immigrants by President Obama’s immigration orders. House members voted to add the amendments to a $40 billion spending bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The amendments approved by the House were prompted by Republican beliefs that President Obama’s immigration orders exceed his authority to enforce current immigration policy.

Obama’s Immigration Orders Allow Amnesty

President Obama’s immigration orders, issued last November, allow for “deferred action” on millions of deportation cases. The program would extend temporary deportation relief to illegal immigrants whose children are either legal residents or U.S. citizens. Obama’s immigration orders would also allow these immigrants to obtain work permits, as well as granting amnesty to minor children brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the program could affect up to 2.5 million undocumented immigrants by 2017.

Republicans Fight Over Obama’s Immigration Orders

Many high-ranking Republicans have labeled President Obama’s immigration orders an unconstitutional breach of the separation of powers. House Speaker John Boehner called Obama’s immigration orders “an affront to the rule of law and to the Constitution itself.” Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) equated the executive actions to “lawless amnesty.” In the Senate, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) described the president’s orders as “an assault on democratic government” that could “weaken the Constitution.”

Democrats Support Obama’s Immigration Orders

On the other side of the aisle, leading Democrats spoke out in support of President Obama’s immigration orders and against the opposition party’s motives. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), cited how court decisions have supported the president’s prerogative to issue executive orders “from President Eisenhower to the present.” Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), labeled the opposition to President Obama’s immigration orders “mean-spirited” and claimed that measures to remove undocumented immigrants who grew up in the U.S. would take them away from “The country they know as home.”

Lawsuits Pending to Overturn Obama’s Immigration Orders

Capitol Hill is not the only arena for the fight over President Obama’s immigration orders. The attorneys general of nearly half the states in the Union have filed lawsuits disputing Obama’s immigration orders. The initial hearing was held last week in a federal court in Brownsville, Texas, a town just a few miles from the Mexican border. The lawsuit alleges that the President overextended his Constitutional authority in issuing the orders. The White House maintains that it issued the orders in line with the Constitution as a stopgap measure due to Congressional delays.

Source: Columbia Daily Herald

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