Obama Opens the Door to Amnesty

By    |   Friday, 26 August 2011 08:00 AM EDT ET

The Obama re-election campaign jumped into full operational mode with an announcement by Janet Napolitano, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, that illegal aliens in deportation proceedings — whether border-crossers or visa overstays — who have yet to commit an additional crime, will be allowed to remain in the United States and obtain work permits.

In an Aug. 18, 2011, letter to Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., regarding his proposed DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors), Napolitano announced a review and reprioritizing of all cases in deportation/removal proceedings.

Low-priority cases, which she believes waste enforcement resources, will be dismissed in defiance of existing U.S. immigration laws passed by Congress and signed into law by previous presidents.

Under the Obama administration, only high-priority cases, such as those involving violent criminals and national security risks, will be pursued. She added that “prosecutorial discretion” cases will not alleviate the need for passage of the DREAM Act or for larger reforms to the immigration law.

Cecilia Munoz, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, blogged that “the president has the responsibility of enforcing existing laws in a smart and effective manner.” Munoz, who is a former official of the radical Hispanic organization, La Raza (The Race), repeated the Obama party line that the executive branch of the government no longer will focus resources on low-priority cases in deportation.

She agreed with Secretary Napolitano’s letter to Durbin that endorsed a memorandum by John Morton, DHS Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Issued on June 17, 2011, the Morton memo was entitled, “Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion Consistent with the Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities of the Agency for the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Aliens.” In it, Morton permitted DHS attorneys and officers to use “prosecutorial discretion” when dealing with removal cases.

The Morton memo followed earlier attempts in 2010 to effectuate amnesty for illegal aliens through a bypass of the legislative process. It set forth categories that DHS officers, agents, and attorneys are to consider in determining whether or not to cancel deportation/removal proceedings or efforts — regardless of where in the system an alien may be.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama continued to speak out of both sides of his mouth. In his July 2011 speech to La Raza, he rejected the idea of imposing immigration reform without legislation passed by Congress, which is designated by the Constitution as the nation’s lawmaking body.

Obama stated, “Now I know some people want me to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own . . . the idea of doing on my own is very tempting. But that’s not how the system works. That’s not how democracy functions.” Yet Obama condones a bureaucratic obfuscation of content, meaning, and responsibility for deciding which immigration laws to enforce.

This Democratic motif works to bypass Congress and its obligations to enact laws. It muddles the understanding and application of existing immigration laws as well as DHS regulations and operating instructions, thus confusing an already befuddled bureaucracy.

Obama amnesty is to be achieved by administrative and bureaucratic fiat. As with other Obama administrative fiats, such as those in EPA, Agriculture, Interior, National Labor Relations Board, Health and Human Services, and OSHA, the Obama re-election juggernaut decided to merely bypass the Constitutional process.

Congress be damned is the insider motto at the White House, where it is assumed that no news organization will dare criticize the president’s actions, even if unconstitutional.

Many in the illegal alien community believe that the Napolitano letter has opened the door for amnesty. Along with the Morton memo, it authorizes ICE field personnel to effectuate amnesty by creating a bureaucratic nightmare of piecemeal decisions.

Immigrant advocates consider this a plus, for bureaucratic anarchy leads to favorable outcomes for illegal aliens. In a sub-rosa manner, Obama political appointees are requiring career federal employees to broaden the interpretation of the Morton memo and Napolitano letter to apply to all illegal aliens.

In the process, the president’s re-election team is attempting to bag the idea of separate but equal branches of government. An end run of Congress and the legislative process is deemed necessary by the Obama administration to pacify the Hispanic population and show that the president cares for illegal aliens, especially those who vote in U.S. elections.

Pressure by immigration advocates forced Obama to take action to appease the Hispanic population, the largest minority in the country.

Statements by Hispanic journalists and activists that Obama had broken his promise of immigration reform were numbing his re-election fervor. Such criticisms were paralyzing the White House, which has now found a remedy in “prosecutorial discretion.”

While it is campaign season, and the Obama administration is pulling out all the stops, where is a rebuttal of the Morton memo and the Napolitano letter by the Republican congressional leadership?

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JamesWalsh
The Obama re-election campaign jumped into full operational mode with an announcement by Janet Napolitano, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, that illegal aliens in deportation proceedings whether border-crossers or visa overstays who have yet to...
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Friday, 26 August 2011 08:00 AM
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