Trey Gowdy Not Buying – DHS Jeh Johnson Claims Ignoring the Law is “Prosecutorial Discretion”

Posted on 29 May, 2014 by Rick Wells

On Thursday, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in effect told the Congress to back off and mind their own business, in the realm of immigration enforcement, or the lack thereof by his agency.

He reasserted what he and others within the regime have labeled as “prosecutorial discretion” being a key component of Homeland Security’s de facto amnesty. Johnson specifically told Congress that they do not have the right to “micromanage” the executive branch.
Under Johnson’s argument, Congress can write the laws but cannot influence or oversee whether they are carried out as written or ignored.
Johnson said “I think that the legislative branch … whether it’s the enforcement of immigration laws, the enforcement of criminal laws or how we conduct counterterrorism operations, needs to be careful not to intrude into the discretion that the executive branch should normally have.”
He continued, saying, “You cannot, with all respect, micromanage certain functions that the Executive is charged with carrying out.”
Johnson testified before the House Judiciary Committee awash in Republican dissatisfaction over DHS’ selective enforcement and non-enforcement of immigration laws.
Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte addressed the non-enforcement in his opening statement, saying “DHS does this under the guise of ‘prosecutorial discretion.’ The beneficiaries include many thousands of aliens who have been arrested by state and local law enforcement or convicted criminals who have been put in removal proceedings and who DHS simply has let back onto our streets.”
He continued, “In addition to simply not pursuing removable aliens, DHS has been granting hundreds of thousands of them administrative legalization and work authorization. DHS does this under many guises, invoking doctrines with esoteric names such as ‘deferred action’ and ‘parole-in-place.’ ”
Trey Gowdy (R-SC) cut to the chase, asking Johnson if there are any differences between prosecutorial discretion and simply ignoring the parts of a law that you don’t like.
Johnson responded saying “I believe there are. I think that there comes a point where something looks like a wholesale abandonment of the enforcement of the law, versus prosecutorial discretion.”
Gowdy pressed Johnson on whether Congress has the right to establish priorities which must be followed by the administration; Johnson responded with an assertion that Congress can’t “micromanage the executive branch.” He described Congress’ role as setting broad goals, with the executive branch being responsible for establishing the specific detailed actions.
He said, “The legislative branch can and should and has the prerogative to set the broad parameters for national policy, and the executive should be given a certain amount of discretion based on existing circumstances to implement and enforce those laws.”
Rep Gowdy, disagreed, stating that such an interpretation of the separation of powers is dangerous to our system of government.
Gowdy told Johnson, “The beauty of this country is, even if our politics differ, we still respect the rule of law, and we are playing with the foundation of this Republic when we decide selectively which laws we’re going to enforce due to political expediency.” He continued saying, “I would urge you to help me find where that line is between prosecutorial discretion and just deciding you don’t like to enforce a law.”
Johnson was either unable or unwilling to find that spot, and mark it.

Rick Wells is a conservative author who believes an adherence the U.S. Constitution would solve many of today’s problems. “Like” him on Facebook and “Follow” him on Twitter.

http://gopthedailydose.com/2014/05/2...al-discretion/