White House rumored to be planning stay of deportation for millions of illegals
Amid buzz that President Obama may be seeking to parole or “defer action” on millions of illegal aliens in the U.S., eight Republican senators are warning the president not to advance any such plan.
“There’s a lot we can agree on when it comes to dealing with the immigration problems in the United States, but this appears to be amnesty in disguise, and is simply an attempt to circumvent Congress,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement.
Grassley and Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; David Vitter, R-La.; Jim Bunning, R-Ky.; James Inhofe, R-Okla.; Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., signed a letter to the president dated June 21.
“We understand that there’s a push for your administration to develop a plan to unilaterally extend either deferred action or parole to millions of illegal aliens in the United States,” they wrote in their letter. “We understand that the administration may include aliens who have willfully overstayed their visas or filed for benefits knowing that they will not be eligible for a status for years to come.”
“Deferred action” is granted by the Department of Homeland Security. It’s a short-term suspension of deportation hearings for illegal aliens. With “deferred action,” illegals are often allowed to apply for employment authorization cards.
The lawmakers noted that “deferred action” and parole are discretionary actions reserved for “individual cases that present unusual, emergent or humanitarian circumstances.”
“Deferred action and parole were not intended to be used to confer a status or offer protection to large groups of illegal aliens, even if the agency claims that they look at each case on a ‘case-by-case’ basis,” they wrote.
The senators agreed that the nation’s immigration laws “need to be fixed,” but they added, “While deferred action and parole are executive branch authorities, they should not be used to circumvent Congress’ constitutional authority to legislate immigration policy, particularly as it relates to the illegal population in the United States.”
Urging Obama for assurance that he has no plans to use either authority, the senators requested that he clarify the administration’s intentions immediately.
“The administration would be wise to abandon any plans for deferred action or parole for the illegal population,” they wrote. “Such a move would further erode the American public’s confidence in the federal government and its commitment to securing the borders and enforcing the laws already on the books.”
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