Wall Street Journal
By Laura Meckler
April 24, 2014
Twenty-two
Republican senators sent a letter to President Barack Obama Thursday to
express “grave concerns” with his administration’s review of
deportation policy. The
review was ordered by the president in the face of fierce protests from
immigration activists, who are deeply frustrated with House stalling on
immigration legislation and with record deportations under Mr. Obama.
The
president directed the review to look for ways to enforce the law in a
more “humane” way, but the senators said they fear the changes will
wrongly weaken immigration
enforcement.
“According
to reports, the changes under consideration would represent a near
complete abandonment of basic immigration enforcement and discard the
rule of law and the
notion that the United States has enforceable borders,” wrote Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and 21 other Republicans including Chuck
Grassley of Iowa, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Tom
Coburn of Oklahoma.
The
Wall Street Journal reported this morning that the Department of
Homeland Security is considering new guidelines that would no longer
consider illegal immigrants with
prior immigration violations to be a priority for removal if they don’t
also have a criminal record. The agency is also considering how to make
sure that immigration agents in the field faithfully implement guidance
from Washington, which many have disagreed
with in the past.
An
announcement is expected in the coming weeks, and administration
officials are attempting a tricky balance. They hope it is substantial
enough to relieve pressure from
advocates who are furious about record-setting deportations under
President Barack Obama, but modest enough to prevent House Republicans
from getting so angry that they extinguish any hope of action on
long-stalled immigration legislation.
The
senators complained that the administration’s policies, which
prioritize criminals, recent border crossers and others for deportation,
already undermine federal law.
“As
a result of your policies, individuals here illegally who do not meet
administration `priorities’ are not only largely exempt from the law,
but are released even if
they come into contact with federal law enforcement authorities,” they
wrote.
It’s
possible that the administration will announce some modest changes in
the coming weeks and others later in the year if the House has not yet
acted on immigration
legislation, which has been stalled since the Senate passed its own
sweeping bill last summer. The White House sees a window for possible
action in the House this summer, and officials say they do not want to
do anything that would provoke a backlash from
House Republicans.
But
many advocates have come away from conversations at the White House
convinced that the president is prepared to issue bigger policy changes
if the House has not acted
by the end of the summer.
A
senior administration official said no decisions have been made and
that advocates are engaged in “extreme wishful thinking” about what they
hope Mr. Obama will do.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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