Posted on 07/06/2016 4:38:38 AM PDT by reaganaut1
WHEN the history of President Obama’s legacy on immigration is written, he will not go down as the president who boldly acted to protect millions of families from the brutality of our nation’s unforgiving immigration laws. The Supreme Court made sure of that last month, when it deadlocked on the legality of his program to defer the deportation of parents of American citizens and residents. Instead, he will be judged on what he actually did: deport more immigrants than any other president in American history, earning him the moniker “deporter in chief.”
However, President Obama can still act to bring humanity and justice to an immigration system notoriously lacking in both. He can do so by using the power the Constitution grants him — and only him — to pardon individuals for “offenses against the United States.”
The debate over the deportation deferral program has been framed as a question of the division of powers. Both sides agree that Congress is the only entity that gets to define offenses against the United States. Reasonable commentators also agree that the president enjoys prosecutorial discretion to determine which deportation cases to pursue and which to forgo. The difficult question is whether a categorical decision to decline to prosecute millions begins to intrude on Congress’ power. While the program is consistent with the way previous presidents have used prosecutorial discretion, without guidance from the Supreme Court, debate will surely continue.
...
Finally, some would surely argue that a pardon protecting a large category of immigrants from deportation would, just like the deportation deferral program, effectively amount to a repeal of laws enacted by Congress. However, pardons do nothing to alter the law. They protect certain past offenders from punishment and prosecution, but leave the law unchanged as applied to any future violators.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
You forget, laws no longer apply to Presidents. They have pens and phones and can do anything they want.
After yesterday, he can do whatever he wants.
Totally agree.
Nope. That’s the whole point, as with the Shrillary thing. They are in power permanently, all these undocumented voters are key to that. They no longer fear these things becoming precedents.
I agree that I don’t think a President can pardon for future crimes.
But that doesn’t stop a President Trump from using his executive authority to remove aliens from the US. Just like during WWII how foreign nationals were deported or how President Carter deported Iranians during the hostage crisis.
The pardon would not be enough to let them stay, IMO.
This has already been exposed as total BS, but the Times keeps repeating it. This administration classifies it as a "deportation" every time someone is refused entrance into the country at the border for not being a citizen.
I’ve thought about this.
Obama can pardon them for ILLEGAL ENTRY - meaning coming here without passing through a border checkpoint.
He CANNOT pardon them for BEING HERE illegally - different crime. He can ignore them for being here illegally, but once Trump is here, they are still here ILLEGALLY...and they can then be deported.
Of course he can.
He will ignore laws and constitutional restraints and do as he wishes.
Why not - he has been doing it for 7½ years with little push back from republicans.
Once amnesty is granted republicans won’t have the guts to push for it to be rescinded (can’t upset the Hispanic illegals, you know).
A few republicans who are up for re-election will issue strongly worded statements in time for the 6:00 news.
Congress will hold hearings that get them a few minutes preening and primping on TV but accomplish nothing else.
No, he can’t. The power to pardon is absolute. The only thing he cannot do is pardon future actions. Nor can he grant citizenship. The question would-be if their continued presence would represent a new crime.
Also, if he words it poorly, he may pardon them for ALL their crimes including murder.
The only recourse is impeachment.
You forget, laws no longer apply to Presidents. They have pens and phones and can do anything they want. It’s the law.
I doubt it since the requests are very formalized. There are all sorts of case information and detail at must be submitted with the request for pardon. This packet is reviewed by the DOJ and then a recommendation is forwarded to the president. That at least is what is supposed to happen
With the DiC and his beard still in office, all bets are off
My understanding is a pardon has to be for a specific person with the specific crimes they have committed laid out. You can’t just blanket pardon a class of people.
If they were truly ‘brutal and unforgiving’ would there be one million, or even one thousand, illegal aliens at large?
“Congress would be impotent to restrict the president’s pardon as the Supreme Court has made clear that “Congress cannot interfere in any way with the president’s power to pardon.” If immigration enforcement agencies or any future administration failed to respect the pardon, individual beneficiaries could use it as a shield in any deportation proceedings that followed.”
What a dumb ass! A pardon won’t change the law that they broke by crossing the border, it would just send them home without that crime on their record!
Only Congress can change the law.
Reagan, with the help of Congress, granted amnesty for a entire class of people. Amnesty for illegals is nothing new, Obama just wants to do it without Congress.
He can pardon them for past crimes, not continuing or future ones. He cannot pardon an illegal alien into a legal one.
The NY Slimes is promoting dictatorship.
They will still have to go through a regular entry process to receive entry documentation.
They would still be liable for back-taxes.
They would still be liable for any identity theft of social security numbers.
They would still have to apply for naturalization.
-PJ
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