Thread: Republicans seek to roll back discretion in immigration case

House Republicans are targeting an Obama administration effort to give immigration officials more leeway when it comes to deciding who to deport from the U.S.

Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, plans to introduce legislation next month that would suspend the Obama administration's ability to exercise executive discretion in immigration cases.

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Smith's bill, called the HALT Act, would strip the administration's power to defer deportation of immigration violators, grant work authorization or grant temporary protected status to immigrants who are fleeing a disaster.

The bill is aimed only at the Obama administration: In the proposed legislation, the executive powers would be restored at the end of this presidential term.

"Because of the Obama administration's record, it cannot be trusted with these powers," said Smith in a letter dated June 23 encouraging other House members to sponsor the bill with him.

The bill has little chance of becoming law. Even if the bill passed the House, it probably would not pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Smith's move comes a week after the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement instructed immigration officials to take into account a number of factors when deciding whether to continue deportation proceedings against an individual, such as a person's pursuit of education and whether the person came to the U.S. as a young child and has family relationships in the U.S.

The policy changes by the administration came in response to concerns that a federal information-sharing program called Secure Communities was unintentionally ensnaring illegal immigrants who are minor offenders, victims of domestic abuse and other crimes, witnesses to crimes and people who were arrested but not convicted of offenses.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) has pushed for changes to the Secure Communities program and described the new policy guidelines as a "step forward.â€

We have to vote Obama and the Dems out. We do not have another alternative. Obama and the Dems will always support amensty for illegals. So we have to vote them out . We do not need Obama. He is destroying our country with illegal aliens.

Originally Posted by immigration2009

We have to vote Obama and the Dems out. We do not have another alternative. Obama and the Dems will always support amensty for illegals. So we have to vote them out . We do not need Obama. He is destroying our country with illegal aliens.

While I totally agree with you regarding Obama, this travesty began with Ronald Reagan. Reagan, Clinton, 4 terms of Bush presidencies and Obama. They were and continue to be prostitutes from the same stable with the same pimp . . . . BIG BUSINESS.

Smiths Bill would have a much better chance of passage if he was not singling out Obama and made it effective for ALL Presidents in the future.

Our Presidents have gained way to much power and are now becoming Dictators.Time to remove ALL Presidential powers that interfer with our laws.

Obama likes to pick and choose which laws to enforce - immigration, defense of marriage. It goes on and on.

The Congress needs to put a stop to the abuse of executive orders and control the powers of the president in matters of DHS.

The Dictators have too much power.

Dixie

Bill would freeze Obama admin's power to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants

By Jordy Yager - 06/25/11 05:05 PM ET


The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is crafting a bill that would temporarily freeze the Obama administration’s power to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.

The measure is in response to a memo issued by the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week that approved a broader breadth of discretion for agency officials when considering whether to deport someone through the Secure Communities program.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who is sponsoring the legislation, blasted the memo. He said that under the new guidelines ICE agents could defer the deportations of “millions of deportable illegal and criminal immigrants.â€

Added to Homepage with slightly amended title:
http://www.alipac.us/article-6368--0-0.html

WE NEED A BILL in each state to protect the people from the Obama Rural council power grab as well...

This Executive order can be just as bad as Obama handing out amnesty.

Originally Posted by USPatriot

Smiths Bill would have a much better chance of passage if he was not singling out Obama and made it effective for ALL Presidents in the future.

Our Presidents have gained way to much power and are now becoming Dictators.Time to remove ALL Presidential powers that interfer with our laws.

ABSOLUTELY AGREED! WE NO LONGER HAVE A BALANCE OF POWER ON WHICH THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED, BUT RATHER A GRADUAL, STEADY EROSION OF POWER SHIFTING AUTHORITY TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND BYPASSING CONGRESS! This is a deadly serious issue that Americans MUST WAKE up to! Everyone here Must DEMAND that our Representatives IMMEDIATELY sponsor or co-sponsor this type of legislation.START THOSE LETTERS, FAXES, EMAILS, AND PHONE CALLS FLOWING...

Originally Posted by stealitall

The bill has little chance of becoming law. Even if the bill passed the House, it probably would not pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

NOT NECESSARILY TRUE...HOW MUCH PRESSURE CAN WE PUT ON OUR SENATORS????

Related Article: NO to Administrative Amnesties: Ask your Rep to Sign
October 21, 2010 By mrsnipe Leave a Comment

During the lame duck session of Congress, Rep. Lamar Smith is planning on introducing the HALT Act, which is designed to prevent President Obama and his administration from granting de facto amnesties.

As you may be aware, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS) has asked senior staff to look at ways of amnestying illegal aliens without Congress’ sanction and ICE chief John Morton has told agents and attorneys to drop deportation cases if the arrested illegal alien has not been convicted of a violent crime.

Obviously, it is very discouraging that President Obama and members of his administration are so determined to amnesty the 11-18 million illegal aliens living in the United States that they are willing to circumvent Congress’ authority and start issuing de facto amnesties for illegal aliens.

In the past, some South Carolina U.S. Representatives have shown a willingness to oppose rewards for illegal immigrants and oppose amnesty. Please send your U.S. Rep. a fax and urge him/her to become an original cosponsor of the HALT Act.

A sample fax is below that was generated from the Numbers USA site: http://www.numbersusa.com/. I recommend all readers subscribe to Numbers USA WWW which is a free site that automatically sends Fax material to your Representative or Senator on immigration and American worker issues.

Representative Henry Brown
U.S. House of Representatives, 103 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

I find it outrageous that the Obama administration is working overtime to find ways to amnesty illegal aliens without Congress’ approval. I urge you to call Rep. Lamar Smith’s office and become an original cosponsor of his HALT Act — a bill that would prevent President Obama’s de facto amnesties.

USCIS’s recent memo outlining ways of amnestying illegal aliens says the following: “rather than making deferred action widely available to hundreds of thousands and as a non-legislative version of ‘amnesty’, USCIS could tailor the use of this discretionary option for particular groups such as individuals who would be eligible for relief under the DREAM Act… or under section 249 of the Act…â€