Thread: 33 House Republicans to Obama: End Deportation Stays for ‘Dreamers’

33 House Republicans to Obama: End Deportation Stays for ‘Dreamers’

By Emma Dumain Posted at 4:29 p.m. on July 2

Issa spearheaded a letter to Obama calling for the end of DACA. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who at one point was said to be writing his own immigration overhaul legislation and this week is at the Texas border visiting detention centers, has sent President Barack Obama a letter calling for an end to the 2012 executive order granting stays of deportation to children brought into the country illegally by their parents.

Reversing the president’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order, known as DACA, would “send a clear signal to all individuals that our immigration laws will be enforced,” the California Republican and thirty-two House GOP cosigners wrote.

DACA doesn’t apply to the thousands of children who have crossed the border illegally in recent months, but critics of the Obama policy say it has contributed to a general misunderstanding in some Central American countries that young people will be allowed to stay in the U.S.
Issa and his backers also say Obama should “make an explicit public comment that you will not support legislation that extends legal status to newly arriving illegal aliens no matter the age.”

The lawmakers who have lent their signatures to the letter represent an array of interests and perspectives across the House Republican Conference, including those who, like Issa, at one point supported a legislative fix to the nation’s immigration system that included a pathway to legal status to undocumented immigrants, including those who qualified for DACA — the so-called Dreamers.

The set of immigration overhaul principles House Republican leaders rolled out in January included the following section:

One of the great founding principles of our country was that children would not be punished for the mistakes of their parents. It is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children through no fault of their own, those who know no other place as home. For those who meet certain eligibility standards, and serve honorably in our military or attain a college degree, we will do just that.

One member who went on the record supporting those principles, and months later signed Issa’s letter: Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.

Another who signed the letter, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., said he supported the principles “in part,” though declined to say which part.

According to CQ Roll Call’s whip count of support for those principles back in late-February, those who said they were “undecided” and went on to sign the Issa letter include Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., and Rob Wittman, R-Va.

Rules Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, also indicated that he was undecided on the issue earlier this year, but during a recent bid for majority leader cast himself as the candidate who would protect members from having to vote on immigration overhaul legislation. He gave his endorsement to Issa’s effort.

Members of leadership who signed the letter include Conference Vice Chairwoman Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., and Conference Secretary Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a staunch ally of Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, also signed.

Another signatory is Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, who told CQ Roll Call earlier Wednesday that Obama was to blame for the child migrant border surge but, even earlier in the day, told MSNBC that he envisioned passage of legislation one day that would grant undocumented immigrants a pathway to legal status.
Regarding the Dreamers, Farenthold said, “the children that were brought here by their parents at very young ages … that’s a very sympathetic problem.”

Read the full letter, and view a complete list of co-signers, below:

July 2, 2014

Dear Mr. President:
As our country faces an unprecedented surge in the arrival of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) at our southwestern border, we call on you to immediately end the failed policies that encourage young individuals to put themselves in peril, leave their home countries, and make a long and dangerous journey to enter our country illegally.

Instead, you must work with Congress to expeditiously end this unsustainable course.

In recent years, your Administration has vowed to circumvent Congress, ignore immigration law, and act outside the scope of Executive powers to implement your desired immigration practices.

Now, our Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, health and education services, and communities along the southwestern border are overwhelmed by a crisis that must be addressed immediately.

On June 23, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security promoted an opinion editorial by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson that attempted to dissuade young foreign nationals from entering the United States illegally by pointing out that they will not receive preferential status under any one of your promised programs. As the written piece suggests, the current surge is far more than a humanitarian crisis resulting from violence and economic failures in Central America. The perception of eventual legal status has been generated through your Administrative actions. To counter these perceptions, you must take concrete action beyond editorials and press releases- you must end the failed policies that stimulated this unmanageable situation.

Firstly, we call on you to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created, without congressional support, by your Administration in June, 2012. While the current program only applies to arrivals prior to 2007, the very existence of the program contradicts present law and violates the Constitutional principle of a separation of powers which grants primary law making authority to the Congress. The Executive does not get to pick and choose which laws must be enforced and which can be selectively ignored. Further, DACA rewards families and individuals who have broken our laws, further encouraging others to seek similar benefits. The DACA program must be immediately ended to send a clear signal to all individuals that our immigration laws will be enforced.

Secondly, you must make an explicit public commitment that you will not support legislation that extends legal status to newly arriving illegal aliens no matter the age. Secretary Johnson’s statement that S. 744, the Senate’s immigration proposal, would not confer benefits to the newly arriving UACs is insufficient to mitigate the popular belief that a pathway to citizenship will be available to any individual in the United States. We request that you remove from consideration any preferential treatment for individuals who have recently illegally crossed our borders.

Additionally, on March 13, 2014, you directed Secretary Johnson to conduct a review of the Department of Homeland Security’s deportation procedures. In May, you requested that the findings of this review be delayed until the end of the summer, suggesting that at that time you would once again be willing to act on immigration policy without Congressional approval. Your continued commitment to circumvent Congress and implement policies contrary to the intent of immigration law sends foreign nationals the false hope that administrative amnesty is possible. By refusing to disclose the nature of the DHS review and the scope of policy considerations, your Administration has encouraged UACs to enter the United States sooner rather than later, and we ask that you immediately clarify the intent of this review and ensure that no special treatment for any illegal alien, including UACs, will be attempted through the DHS review.

Following the end of these three destructive efforts, you should work with legislators to ensure vigorous oversight of our generous asylum system to avoid fraud and abuse. The National Security Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has conducted oversight of fraud and abuse in the existing asylum process.[4]

As Congress considers legislative proposals to ensure our system is reserved for deserving applicants, we urge you to cooperate with Congressional leaders to provide accurate data on the recent surge and work for legislative reforms that ensure the safe repatriation of these minor children to family members in their home countries and provide the commitment necessary to secure our border.

Signatures include:
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas
Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas
Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas
Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.
Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Tenn.
Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
Rep Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla.
Rep. Alan Nunnelee, R-Miss.
Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo.
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.
Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla.
Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga.
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va.
Rep. Ralph M. Hall, R-Texas
Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas
Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif.
Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas
Rep. Dan Benishek, R-Mich.
Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla.
Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla.
Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark.

http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/dreame...rtations/?dcz=

Election year confusion of making it difficult to determine who is who,what doees he stand for and what else does he stand for, even do they stand for anything. More flip-flopping confusion.

Especially in an election year speeches do not mean much if anything. The letter amounts to group speech. Now a vote for specific legislation may impress me, one way or another!

Good to see these guys at least trying to do something

instead of sitting around doing nothing like the rest of them.

Elise Foley

Darrell Issa Calls For Obama To Restart Deportation Of Dreamers

Posted: 06/24/2014 4:10 pm EDT Updated: 07/02/2014 2:59 pm EDT

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is asking colleagues to sign on to a letter to the president demanding he end a program that keeps young people with longstanding ties to the U.S. from being deported.

The letter, which was obtained by The Huffington Post and confirmed by two offices that received it, blames President Barack Obama for a current crisis of unaccompanied minors crossing the border illegally.

It specifically singles out his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA, which allows young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to stay and work legally.

Issa has contacted colleagues asking them to sign the message to Obama by the end of the day on Thursday. Issa's office did not respond to a request for comment.

DACA does not allow immigrants who crossed the border illegally recently to gain legal status -- anyone who entered the country after June 15, 2007, is ineligible -- and Issa acknowledged that in his letter to Obama. But he still said the policy, which has aided more than 550,000 young people so far, is partially to blame for the current crisis.

"[T]he very existence of the program contradicts present law and violates the Constitutional principle of a separation of powers which grants primary law making authority to the Congress," Issa wrote.

"The Executive does not get to pick and choose which laws must be enforced and which can be selectively ignored. .. DACA rewards families and individuals who have broken our laws, further encouraging others to seek similar benefits."

Issa wrote later that Obama should "make an explicit public commitment that [he] will not support legislation that extends legal status to newly arriving illegal aliens no matter the age." The immigration reform bill that passed the Senate last year does not allow people who came to the U.S. after the end of 2011 to earn legal status -- meaning children who enter today wouldn't be eligible for that reprieve, either.

Obama's push for immigration reform that would include legal status for undocumented immigrants has stalled in the House of Representatives, which has voted to defund programs such as DACA but avoided other legislation on the issue. Issa was at one point working on his own bill to give temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants, but it was never introduced.

Republicans have said the president's immigration record and support for reform created the view abroad that anyone can come to the U.S. without consequences. The Obama administration has acknowledged that misinformation has circulated, even though the children who have entered recently are ineligible for DACA or legal status under the Senate bill, and say falsehoods are being spread by smugglers. Children who come to the country illegally are put into removal proceedings, although a judge may eventually rule, on a case-by-case basis, that they can stay.

Issa wrote in his letter that Obama should investigate whether there is fraud and abuse in the "generous" asylum system and provide Congress with more data on the recent unaccompanied minor crisis.

The congressman also wrote that Obama should stop a review by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson into the administration's deportation policies. Obama delayed that review until the end of the summer to give the House of Representatives time to act on reform -- which, so far, looks unlikely to happen -- but has not ruled out future actions to limit deportations.

Issa wrote that Obama's review was encouraging children to immigrate illegally.

"Your continued commitment to circumvent Congress and implement policies contrary to the intent of immigration law sends foreign nationals the false hope that administrative amnesty is possible," he wrote.

UPDATE: July 2 -- The letter was sent on July 2 and received 33 signatures from House Republicans. Here's the full list of members who signed on in support of ending DACA:

Rep. Darrell Issa
Rep. Pete Sessions
Rep. Sam Graves
Rep. Lamar Smith
Rep. Blake Farenthold
Rep. Gus Bilirakis
Rep. Marsha Blackburn
Rep. Tim McClintock
Rep. John Duncan
Rep. Tom Cotton
Rep Jim Bridenstine
Rep. Alan Nunnelee
Rep. Gregg Harper
Rep. Doug LaMalfa
Rep. Paul Gosar
Rep. Lynn Jenkins
Rep. Vicky Hartzler
Rep. Tom Cole
Rep. Markwayne Mullin
Rep. Ken Calvert
Rep. Brad Wenstrup
Rep. Virginia Foxx
Rep. Ander Crenshaw
Rep. Phil Gingrey
Rep. Rob Wittman
Rep. Ralph Hall
Rep. Roger Williams
Rep John Campbell
Rep. Steve Stockman
Rep. Dan Benishek
Rep. David Jolly
Rep. Ted Yoho
Rep. Tim Griffin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_5526876.html

House Republicans to Obama: Deport Dream Act kids


07/03/14 11:21 AM—UPDATED 07/03/14 11:22 AM
By Steve Benen

Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who at one point was said to be writing his own immigration overhaul legislation and this week is at the Texas border visiting detention centers, has sent President Barack Obama a letter calling for an end to the 2012 executive order granting stays of deportation to children brought into the country illegally by their parents.

Reversing the president’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order, known as DACA, would “send a clear signal to all individuals that our immigration laws will be enforced,” the California Republican and thirty-two House GOP cosigners wrote.

Remember, the deferred-action policy doesn’t actually relate to the ongoing humanitarian crisis along the Southern border – none of these unattended children who crossed the border illegally recently will be able to stay under DACA.

But Issa, who found 32 other House Republicans to sign onto his letter, believes more deportations will send a “signal” to families in countries like Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

In other words, nearly three dozen House Republican lawmakers have a message for Dream Act kids: “Sorry, but if some Central American families have been misled by unscrupulous smuggling groups, the appropriate solution is to deport young people from the only home they’ve ever known.”

There’s simply no way the White House would ever consider such a move, nor should it – the recommendation is absurd.

It’s worth backing up and considering some context.


Every year, tens of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants graduate from American high schools, but they’ve quickly found themselves stuck. They can’t qualify for college aid, and they can’t work legally. America is the only home they’ve ever known – in most cases, they were, at a very young age, brought into the country illegally by their parents – but upon turning 18 and graduating, they’ve faced the threat of deportation.

The proposed solution used to be the Dream Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act), which used to enjoy bipartisan support. The legislation would provide a path to citizenship for these young immigrants – graduate from high school, get conditional permanent residency status, go to college or serve in the military, pay some steep fees, and become eligible for citizenship. The Pentagon enthusiastically backed the proposal, the CBO found it would lower the deficit, and advocates for the immigrant community saw it as an obvious, humane idea.

Republicans, including some of the GOP lawmakers who helped write the legislation, turned on the bill and killed it.

This led President Obama to adopt his deferred-action policy through an executive order. Undocumented young immigrants who were brought into the U.S. before they turned 16, who’ve been here for five or more years, who have no criminal background, and who got their diploma can apply for a work permit and stay.

Issa and his far-right allies believe it’s time to start deporting these young people, in order to send a “signal.” By some measures, the real signal is the one GOP policymakers are sending to Latino voters.

Indeed, Republicans now appear to be going out of their way to become the Deportation Party.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/33-house-republicans-obama-deport-dream-act-kids