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Death of DACA – Rule of Law, Midterm Elections & the RAISE Act

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“In ordering this blanket exception, President Obama was nullifying part of a law that he simply disagreed with.….If a president can claim sweeping discretion to suspend key federal laws, the entire legislative process becomes little more than a pretense…The circumvention of the legislative process not only undermines the authority of this branch but destabilizes the tripartite system as a whole.” – George Washington University Law School Professor Jonathan Turley

“The executive branch, through DACA, deliberately sought to achieve what the legislative branch specifically refused to authorize on multiple occasions. Such an open-ended circumvention of immigration laws was an unconstitutional exercise of authority by the Executive Branch.” – Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Attorney General Jeff Sessions formally announced the decision to rescind Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA on September 5, 2017:

The DACA program was implemented in 2012 and essentially provided a legal status for recipients for a renewable two-year term, work authorization and other benefits, including participation in the social security program, to 800,000 mostly-adult illegal aliens.

This policy was implemented unilaterally to great controversy and legal concern after Congress rejected legislative proposals to extend similar benefits on numerous occasions to this same group of illegal aliens.

No greater good can be done for the overall health and well-being of our Republic, than preserving and strengthening the impartial rule of law. Societies where the rule of law is treasured are societies that tend to flourish and succeed.

Societies where the rule of law is subject to political whims and personal biases tend to become societies afflicted by corruption, poverty, and human suffering.

To have a lawful system of immigration that serves the national interest, we cannot admit everyone who would like to come here. That is an open border policy and the American people have rightly rejected it.

Therefore, the nation must set and enforce a limit on how many immigrants we admit each year and that means all cannot be accepted.

Note that Sessions uses the pertinent term “illegal aliens”. It’s worth remembering what’s being discussed.

People who are in the country illegally.

For me, this issue has always been more about Executive overreach, Rule of Law and National Sovereignty.

We are a nation of laws. We retain and should cherish our National Sovereignty. If one doesn’t like the current laws, they can be legally changed through Congress – as intended by our Constitution.

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 of our Constitution clearly states that Congress retains discretion over our Nation’s immigration laws:

The Congress shall have Power…To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization.

As Andrew McCarthy at National Review notes in his article, To End DACA, Follow the Constitution:

The problem is the substance of executive action. DACA is defective in two ways. First, it presumes to exercise legislative power by conferring positive legal benefits on a category of aliens. Second, it distorts the doctrine of prosecutorial discretion to rationalize this presidential legislating and to grant a de facto amnesty. These maneuvers violated core constitutional principles: separation of powers and the president’s duty to execute the laws faithfully.

DACA was an unconstitutional violation of the immigration law written and passed by Congress.

DACA represented an egregious Executive overreach by the Obama Administration.

DACA should never have existed.

Here are the general details of the new policy, according to administration officials:

  • The administration won’t consider new applications for legal status dated after September 5, 2017.
  • Applications filed before September 5, 2017, that are pending will continue to be processed.
  • Those who have a DACA permit expiring between now and March 5, 2018, can apply for a two-year renewal. That application must be submitted by October 5, 2017
  • Those with permits that expire between now and March 5, 2018, will be eligible for legal status for another two-plus years. For others, legal status ends as early as March 6, 2018.
  • After March 5 — the deadline for enforcement of immigration law — the Trump White House says it won’t start deporting “DREAMers” in force, but will continue the Administration’s focus on “criminals.”

A Fact Sheet on the DACA Rescission from the Department of Homeland Security can be found here.

President Trump issued a formal statement. He made clear a number of points:

We must also recognize that we are nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.

The legislative branch, not the executive branch, writes these laws – this is the bedrock of our Constitutional system.

President Obama bypassed Congress to give work permits, social security numbers, and federal benefits to approximately 800,000 illegal immigrants currently between the ages of 15 and 36.  The typical recipients of this executive amnesty, known as DACA, are in their twenties.

Legislation offering these same benefits had been introduced in Congress on numerous occasions and rejected each time.

There can be no path to principled immigration reform if the executive branch is able to rewrite or nullify federal laws at will.

Only by the reliable enforcement of immigration law can we produce safe communities, a robust middle class, and economic fairness for all Americans.

I am not going to just cut DACA off, but rather provide a window of opportunity for Congress to finally act.

Our enforcement priorities remain unchanged. We are focused on criminals, security threats, recent border-crossers, visa overstays, and repeat violators.  I have advised the Department of Homeland Security that DACA recipients are not enforcement priorities unless they are criminals, are involved in criminal activity, or are members of a gang.

Before we ask what is fair to illegal immigrants, we must also ask what is fair to American families, students, taxpayers, and jobseekers.

Congress now has the opportunity to advance responsible immigration reform that puts American jobs and American security first.  We are facing the symptom of a larger problem, illegal immigration, along with the many other chronic immigration problems Washington has left unsolved.

We must reform our green card system, which now favors low-skilled immigration and puts immense strain on U.S. taxpayers.  We must base future immigration on merit – we want those coming into the country to be able to support themselves financially, to contribute to our economy, and to love our country and the values it stands for.

We will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion – but through the lawful Democratic process – while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve.

Above all else, we must remember that young Americans have dreams too. Being in government means setting priorities. Our first and highest priority in advancing immigration reform must be to improve jobs, wages and security for American workers and their families.

A welcome message to my ears.

Prior to Sessions’ formal announcement, President Trump tweeted out this message:

This may prove to be a brilliant move. The rescinding of DACA places the issue of immigration reform into the lap of Congress.

Right in front of midterm elections.

The intent behind this action is multi-faceted:

Restore the Rule of Law and National Sovereignty.

End the DACA Program humanely.

Place the immigration issue squarely on Congress.

Expose Congressional members (RINO’s) through their immigration stance.

Implement the RAISE Act.

The implementation of the RAISE ACT would provide immense benefits to our nation.

  • The RAISE Act replaces the current permanent employment-visa framework with a skills-based system that rewards applicants based on their individual merits.
    • The system rewards education, English-language ability, high-paying job offers, past achievements, and entrepreneurial initiative.
    • This system is similar to the merit-based immigration systems used by Canada and Australia.
  • The RAISE Act reduces overall immigration numbers to limit low-skilled and unskilled labor entering the United States.
  • The RAISE Act prioritizes immediate family members of United States residents, including spouses and minor children, but ends preferences for extended family members and adult children.
    • United States citizens needing to take care of elderly parents can receive renewable, temporary visas for them.
  • The RAISE Act eliminates the outdated Diversity Visa lottery system, which serves questionable economic and humanitarian interests.
  • The RAISE Act limits permanent resident status for refugees to 50,000 a year, in line with the 13-year average.

AG Jeff Sessions made mention of the RAISE Act in today’s statement:

President Trump has offered specific ideas and legislative solutions that will protect American workers, increase wages and salaries, defend our national security, ensure the public safety, and increase the general well-being of the American people.

He has worked closely with many members of Congress, including in the introduction of the RAISE Act, which would produce enormous benefits for our country. This is how our democratic process works.

There are many powerful interest groups in this country and every one of them has a constitutional right to advocate their views and represent whomever they choose.

But the Department of Justice does not represent any narrow interest or any subset of the American people. We represent all of the American people and protect the integrity of our Constitution.

Recent polling has shown the RAISE Act to be highly popular and appealing to the majority of American voters.

I am strongly in favor of the RAISE Act.

DACA was a brazen and Constitutionally illegal violation of the immigration law as written and passed by the American people’s representatives in congress.

DACA should be terminated. It should never have existed.

Bring on the RAISE Act.

 

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