Barletta Statement on President Obama’s Expected Amnesty Action

WASHINGTON – Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, today issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s expected announcement of executive action to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants already present in this country:   

“We have just come through a national election in which the president’s policies, including his plans for amnesty for illegal immigrants, were soundly rejected by the American people.  Incredibly, his response is to ignore the clear will of the people and their elected representatives and forge ahead with his own agenda.  Worse, the president himself has repeatedly asserted in public that he does not possess the power to do what he proposes to do now.

“We are a nation, founded on the rule of law, which was never meant to be governed by the wishes or whims of one person.  If the president had wanted this outcome so badly, he could have sailed it through Congress when his party had complete control of the federal government during his first two years in office.  In the years since, the executive actions the president intends to take have been directly and expressly rejected by Congress in many votes on immigration issues.  In circumventing Congress to achieve his own short-sighted ends, President Obama will do grave damage to the Constitutional separation of powers and set a dangerous precedent for future executives of either political party.

“We have immigration laws for two basic reasons: to preserve national security and to protect American jobs.  The actions the president is contemplating violate both of those principles.  It will be impossible for the government to conduct background checks on millions of newly legalized residents, meaning adequate security screenings will never take place.  Additionally, by handing out work permits to illegal immigrants, there will be irreparable harm done to millions of unemployed Americans who – just before the holidays – will suddenly find a flood of competition for jobs that are scarce already.  Further, such widespread granting of amnesty will only make the problem worse as many more will be drawn to this country in the belief they can break our immigration laws with impunity.

“I reiterate my call for using the appropriations process to block funding for identification cards for illegal immigrants who are granted amnesty, while continuing to fund other functions of government.  I am also now exploring legislative remedies to prevent the president from acting without Congressional authority.  I regret that we must explore such measures to ensure that our president obeys the Constitution, but he has left us little choice.”