Posted on 11/10/2015 4:52:14 PM PST by markomalley
Senate Republicans are asking the Department of Homeland Security to explain a leaked agency memo reportedly revealing that federal officials are planning to evade a federal court order barring pieces of President Barack Obama’s executive immigration actions.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, led eight others on the committee in a letter sent to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson last week demanding he clarify the document.
The agency’s proposed regulations would allow immigrants, including those in the U.S. illegally, to receive extended work permits if sponsored by an employer, even if the sponsorship is terminated or expired.
The leaked memo states that a benefit of the proposed action would be to “authorize the presence of certain individuals who are not here lawfully and address the needs of some of the intended deferred action population.”
The senators charged that such changes would “directly violate” a federal court injunction issued in February suspending Obama’s plan to shield roughly 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation through expansions to a program granting extended work permits.
The executive program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), initially granted temporary two-year legal status to immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and attended school in the country.
In 2014, Obama issued an executive order extending the work permits to three years. He also established deportation protections for certain undocumented parents of already protected children.
Twenty-six states filed a lawsuit against the 2014 executive action in a Texas federal court, leading U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen to issue an order placing the programs on hold.
The senators argued that the leaked DHS document appeared to show agency officials “actively engaged in attempting to skirt” Hanen’s injunction, constituting “yet another illegal ‘executive action.’”
“The authors of the memo openly acknowledge, and offer as a reason to support the proposal, that granting employment authorization to illegal immigrants under the proposed scheme would accomplish, by different means, the de facto legalization of the population intended to be legalized by the enjoined DAPA program,” they wrote.
The committee gave Johnson until Nov. 12 to respond.
“We want assurances that the administration will refrain from moving forward with any such proposal that harms the integrity of our legal immigration system and violates the law,” they wrote.
The letter was signed by Grassley along with Republican Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana, Orrin Hatch of Utah, John Cornyn of Texas, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Mike Lee of Utah, David Perdue of Georgia, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Ted Cruz of Texas.
seems to me those responsible collecting a paycheck should be charged with defrauding the government..
NO Democrat Senators Signed the letter??? Democrats are LAW=LESS!
Zero don’t need no steenkeeng laws. He’s got a pen and a phone.
The whole lot of them should be in prison, forever.
Arrest only one of these underlings and this crap will stopp!
“What’re they going to do: Impeach me?”
— Barack
He’s observing the forms by going through the courts, knowing that the Supremes will either not act during his term, or will not take the case at all out of fear of causing a real constitutional crisis.
He can’t be impeached... so he’ll just delay, delay, delay. ICE and Border Control will get sneaky order after order extending the illegal aliens’ stay. Then it will be argued that they’ve been good residents for so many years, that they’ve effectively met the statutory requirements for citizenship we impose for those legal immigrants who wait in line. It would be so unfair to deny them citizenship, it will be said.
The future seems crystal clear... and it is mud.
Oh yeah, those Republicans are tough alright.
The ‘strongly worded’ letter:
:o/
Seems to me that total silence points to complicity, ..and acceptance.
There should be a penalty, as so far ,
there has been no accountablilty, or responsibility !
Why do we even have a Homeland Security with this crap going on. Obviously we have not learned the lessons of 9/11. If the WTC had a grave, it would be spinning in it.
Previous administrations have claimed a lack of resources and other priorities for not enforcing the law. This President is taking conscious steps, utilizing those same finite resources to violate the law. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the Administration then it will be official, the Constitution is dead.
“knowing that the Supremes will either not act during his term, or will not take the case at all out of fear “
SCROTUS
Contempt of court? Contempt of Congress? Contempt of Constitution? Contempt of anything, and everything American?
Like Obama is worried about a court ruling.
This is what’s putting Trump in the lead.
Irrelevant.. you need to have a Congress & DOJ that would actually act. Hearings are useless.. much like Congress.
And the rino pubbies say, “stop, stop you can’t do that” as they vote for more funding and their donor class hires more cheap illegal labor.
Can’t E-verify? Bullspit. They don’t want to do a damn thing.
I hate them all. dims and pubbies are all the same. Like Iran and isis just arguing over who gets the power.
Thanks.
Under Obama the Department of Homeland Security has nothing to do with Homeland Security
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.