Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants is a Non-starter

The word around Washington is that the executive branch may go around Congress and grant de facto amnesty to millions of undocumented immigrants residing in the United States.  After learning of the possibility of White House action, several senators joined me in sending a letter to President Obama urging him not to reward people whose first action in the United States was to break the law.

Reports indicate that President Obama is considering bypassing Congress and granting amnesty in the form of deferred action or parole.  Deferred action and parole are discretionary actions meant to be applied on a case-by-case basis for unusual, emergent or humanitarian circumstances.  They are not intended to be used as backdoor methods of giving amnesty to a large population.

We live in a nation built on the rule of law.  Granting amnesty defies one of the core principles of our country and, in turn, only serves to encourage more illegality.  Amnesty is a short-term solution that rewards those who have broken immigration laws at the expense of those attempting to enter the United States through legal channels.  The American people deserve a government that enforces its laws and leadership that doesn’t attempt to go around the representative process of the legislative branch of government to advance a political agenda. 

Click here to read my letter to the President.