In an explosive letter hand-delivered to the offices of all 535 members of Congress, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) warned fellow lawmakers that a new plot by Obama to grant amnesty to millions more illegal immigrants by executive decree “threatens the foundation of our constitutional Republic.” If the administration is not stopped, Sessions added, the borders and immigration law would essentially be nullified, paving the way for an even more dangerous crisis. As such, Congress must take action to restrain the president, he said.
The latest warning, one of the most serious yet by a high-ranking lawmaker, tells members of Congress in stark terms that the United States is currently facing a major disaster that will only get worse without congressional action. Rather than bowing to Obama’s demand for another $3.7 billion in taxpayer funds, however, Sessions suggested that it was time for the legislative branch to get tough. “Congress cannot surrender to this lawlessness,” he said, blasting the administration’s threats, its “illegal executive actions,” and its brazen refusal to obey the law.
Citing a recent news report about the administration’s scheme to unlawfully legalize between five million and six million illegal-immigrant adults, the senator warned that the existing “disaster” on the border could escalate to “unthinkable proportions.” In the July 3 article quoted by Sessions, National Journal reported that Obama was plotting to “press his executive powers to the limit.” The president also gave “quiet credence” to recommendations from the extremist group La Raza (The Race) on stopping millions of adult deportations using “executive actions,” similar to his 2012 scheme for child so-called Dreamers.
The report quoted in Sen. Sessions’ letter said the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security had been ordered by Obama to “find executive authorities that could enlarge that non-prosecutorial umbrella by a factor of 10.” In other words, the administration is hoping to provide amnesty by decree — in violation of federal law — to 10 times more illegal immigrants than have already been legalized through Obama’s “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) scheme. “This is breathtaking,” Sessions wrote to his colleagues.
“The action the President is reportedly contemplating would be a nullification of the Immigration and Nationality Act by the Executive Branch of government,” continued Sessions, the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee. “Indeed, it would be an executive nullification of our borders as an enforceable national boundary. By declaring whole classes of illegal immigrants beyond the reach of the law, it would remove the moral authority needed to enforce any immigration law, creating the very open-borders policy explicitly rejected by Congress and the people. And it would guarantee that the current illegal immigration disaster would only further worsen and destabilize.”
Throughout the letter, as in previous public statements, Sessions blamed the escalating surge of illegal immigrants flooding the southern border on Obama’s antics. “As you know, over the last five and a half years, the President has routinely bypassed Congress in order to suspend enforcement of our immigration laws,” Sessions told lawmakers. “The most dramatic of these lawless directives was the President’s 2012 Deferred Action Program for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), in which the president implemented by executive fiat legislation that Congress has three times rejected.”
Unsurprisingly, the “illegal” DACA scheme, the senator continued, has led to “catastrophic” consequences. “By declaring to the entire world that America will not enforce its immigration laws against those who enter the country as minors — indeed, that the United States will freely grant them access to work permits and taxpayer resources — President Obama unleashed a flood of new illegal immigration into the country,” Sessions said. “This is the disaster he created.”
The senator from Alabama is hardly alone in his analysis. Last month, for example, the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) issued a statement making similar accusations. “It is a predictable, orchestrated and contrived assault on the compassionate side of Americans by her political leaders that knowingly puts minor illegal alien children at risk for purely political purposes,” the organization said. Texas Governor Rick Perry has also suggested ulterior motives from within the administration may be behind the border crisis.
However, there is a clear path toward preventing “the continued dissolution of America’s borders,” the Alabama senator told his colleagues in the letter. To begin with, he said, Congress must not submit to Obama’s demands for more taxpayer dollars until the president unequivocally withdraws his threats to engage in more “illegal” executive actions. On top of that, DACA and Obama’s numerous other “unlawful policies” need to terminated as well.
“Congress must demand that the President use his lawful powers to begin enforcing the law now — instead of passing legislation on the promise of future enforcement — and that he back down from his plan to widen his disastrous DACA program,” Sessions argued, saying Obama’s plot would make the ongoing border disaster unthinkably worse. “If Congress simply passes a supplemental spending bill without these preconditions, it is not a question of if the President will suspend more immigration laws, but only how many he will suspend.”
Surrendering to the administration’s “lawlessness” is simply not an option, Sessions concluded. “Acting in defense of Congress, our constituents, and their communities, we must stand firm,” he said. “This transcends politics. It is about our duty as constitutional officeholders. It is about the solemn oath we all took as Members of Congress.”
As The New American reported late last year, the Obama administration and the Department of Homeland Security in particular have already come under fire from the judiciary as well. In fact, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen accused the administration of brazenly violating U.S. law, participating in criminal conspiracies to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States, helping to fund Mexican drug cartels through its actions, and jeopardizing the lives of children with its lawless policies.
“The DHS, instead of enforcing our border security laws, actually assisted the criminal conspiracy in achieving its illegal goals,” Hanen observed in a December ruling lambasting the administration for its lawless immigration schemes. “In summary, instead of enforcing the laws of the United States, the Government took direct steps to help the individuals who violated it. A private citizen would, and should, be prosecuted for this conduct.”
House Republicans are currently working on a bill to provide some of the funding sought by the administration, though not all, with a few measures purportedly aimed at forcing Obama to enforce the law and speed up deportations. In the meantime, the Department of Homeland Security is transporting illegal immigrants all across the country before releasing them into American cities and towns. The scheme has sparked a wave of protests nationwide — especially in communities set to receive busloads of potentially sick immigrants.
As The New American reported yesterday surrounding the ongoing crisis at the border, despite Obama bearing the brunt of the blame, more than a few figures from the establishment wing of the GOP have also played a key role in fomenting and enabling the border meltdown. Some analysts and lawmakers even suspect the crisis is being deliberately orchestrated to, as Obama put it, “fundamentally transform” the United States.
So far Sessions’ letter has not attracted much national media attention — especially not from the establishment press. Whether or not lawmakers will act on the urgent warnings and recommendations offered by the senator from Alabama remains to be seen. Other prominent critics have called for impeachment or even criminal prosecution. What is clear, though, is that the status quo — Obama doing whatever he wants, regardless of the law or the Constitution — will only intensify the escalating chaos along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American, covering economics, education, politics, and more. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU.
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Illegal Immigrant Surge: Unexpected — or Planned?
U.S. Judge: Obama Homeland Security Aiding Criminal Conspiracies
Obama Admin. Blames Bush-Era Law for Failure to Deport Illegals
Former Border Patrol Agents: Illegal Immigration Crisis “Contrived”
Illegal Immigrant “Children” Include MS-13 Gang Members
Obama Opens Borders, Releases Illegal Immigrants Into U.S.
DHS: Flow of Illegal Immigrants Encouraged by U.S. Failure to Deport
Feds Let Mexican Cartel Hit Men Kill in U.S., Senior Lawman Told Stratfor
Border Group: Obama Amnesty “Contempt for Law”
