Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives today approved by a vote of 219-197 the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act (H.R. 5759) to prevent President Obama or any future president from inappropriately exempting or deferring the removal of entire categories of unlawful immigrants. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) released the statement below praising House passage of this legislation.

Chairman Goodlatte: “Two weeks ago, President Obama declared war against the Constitution by changing our immigration laws on his own and Congress today began its fight against this unprecedented power grab by passing the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act.
 
“The Constitution is clear: it is the role of Congress to make all laws, the Judiciary to interpret the laws, and the President to enforce the laws. This system was wisely set into place by our country’s framers over 200 years ago because they knew first hand that the concentration of power in the same hands was a threat to individual liberty and the rule of law. President Obama’s decision to ignore the limitations placed on his authority and claim legislative power threatens to undo our system of government.
 
“Fortunately, the Framers wisely gave Congress many tools to guard against the executive branch accumulating too much power. Today’s approval of the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act will stop the President from changing our immigration laws unilaterally. Although the Democrat-controlled Senate refuses to join us in our fight against these unconstitutional actions, President Obama is on notice that his actions will not be tolerated come January when Republicans take control of the Senate. Today’s vote is just the beginning of our fight against President Obama’s power grab.”
 
Summary of H.R. 5759:
·         reaffirms the constitutional principles that only Congress has the power to write immigration laws and that the President must enforce those laws;
·         prevents President Obama or any future president from exempting or deferring the removal of categories of unlawful aliens except to the extent that the president is relying on his constitutional powers over foreign affairs or utilizing exceptions provided for in the bill for exceptional humanitarian and law enforcement circumstances;
·         prevents President Obama or any future president from considering such aliens to be lawfully present in the United States (and thus renders them ineligible for the rights and privileges available to lawfully present aliens);
·         prevents President Obama or any future president from granting work authorization to such aliens; and
·         takes effect as if enacted on November 20, 2014, thus nullifying the president’s recent executive action.