Hundreds of Families to Gather at White House to Call on President Obama to End the Deportations

Q    And, Jay, the President has been saying for a long time that he doesn’t have it within his power to further ease deportations.  He’s confronted hecklers, but he’s said even as recently as last week that he’s already stretched his administrative ability pretty far.  Has the President changed his mind?
 
MR. CARNEY:  What we announced last night is that the President met with Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman, Ruben Hinojosa; CHC Immigration Task Force Chair, Luis Gutierrez; and Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Xavier Becerra in the Oval Office last night.
 
The discussion focused on their mutual efforts to pass common-sense immigration reform legislation through the House.  The President emphasized his deep concern about the pain too many families feel from the separation that comes from our broken immigration system.  And he told the members that he has asked new Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, to do an inventory of the department’s current practices to see how it, the department, can conduct it more humanely within the confines of the law.
 
What the President has made clear, and what those speaking for him have made clear, is that he does not have the authority to achieve comprehensive immigration reform; only Congress can do that.  And that is why it is imperative that the House follow suit, take up a bill that is ready to go in the House that mirrors the principles that you see in the Senate bill that was passed with Democrats and Republicans that, in turn, reflects the principles the President has put on the table, so that this can become a reality and the President can sign it into law.
 
There is no other way to fix all that is wrong with our immigration system.  What the President has asked Secretary Johnson to do is conduct a review of practices to ensure that within the confines of the law we are carrying out these policies in the most humane way possible, because he is very cognizant of the pain that families who are separated have been feeling as a result of deportations.
 
But there is no fix here that does not include legislation.  That is why it is so important for the House to move forward, for the House to continue the progress that we saw earlier when leaders announced that they had settled on a set of standards and principles that would guide them in the effort to reform the immigration system comprehensively.  And I would note that Speaker Boehner has said very recently that it is important to move forward on immigration reform.  The President could not agree more.
 
Q    So what changed between when the President said last week he’s done everything he could do, and now when he’s saying there might be other things that he can do, even if it’s not a fix?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Look, I think that Secretary Johnson will conduct this review and look at our practices, and make sure that they are being engaged in and that the laws are being enforced in a way that is as humane as possible.
 
What remains the case -- because we have obviously priorities when it comes to enforcement; they are border security and they are public safety.  And on the public safety end, that means making sure that we are using the resources we have, when it comes to enforcement, on ensuring that those with criminal records, convictions, are made a priority when it comes to detainment and deportation.  And I think that’s part of what the Secretary will engage in when he looks at this review -- to ensure that the guidelines that are on the books, that reflect the laws that are on the books, are being followed and executed as well as possible, acknowledging all along, as the President has, that is it long past time that the House take up comprehensive immigration reform and pass it.  Because there is no doubt in my mind -- and I know that you all know this -- that if that bill were allowed to have a vote on the floor of the House, it would pass and it would pass with Democrats and Republicans, because neither party has a corner on understanding the importance of this issue or knowing that passage of comprehensive immigration reform would be a tremendous boon for our economy and our businesses and our security.
 
So this is just another reminder that Congress has to act, and we certainly hope that the House will do so as soon as possible.
 
Q    Knowing that Republicans are actively looking for reasons to argue that the President has overreached, how concerned is the White House that by taking these steps you’re actually making it less likely that the President will be able to sign an immigration bill?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, Republicans in Congress ought to pass comprehensive immigration reform.  They know and we know that the way to fix the broken system is to do that, and that there is no executive action that this President or any President can take that would fix our immigration system comprehensively in the way that it must be fixed.
 
So I think that the House ought to, as the Speaker has said, take up this issue, acknowledge that it’s serious, acknowledge that there are economic and security benefits to passing comprehensive immigration reform, take that argument to their districts and their states where we’re confident it will be embraced, and let’s get this done.  This is the right thing to do.  It’s the right thing for the economy.  It’s the right thing for our security, and it’s, frankly, the right thing politically for the Republicans to take up.
 
Q    But they say they can't trust him to enforce the law.  Doesn't this play into that directly?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, look, if the Republican message is they refuse to reform our broken immigration system because they have an issue with the President, I think they ought to explain that to the American people.
 
What the President has said is -- and he’s made this very clear -- there is no substitute for legislation that fixes our broken immigration system.  Congress ought to get about the business of passing that legislation.

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PRESS RELEASE from U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA)


WASHINGTON – In a letter to President Barack Obama, 22 United States senators questioned a new “enforcement review” ordered by President Obama after he met with advocacy groups that reportedly will further limit deportations of individuals in the country illegally.  The senators said that “the changes under consideration would represent a near complete abandonment of basic immigration enforcement and discard the rule of law and the notion that the United States has enforceable borders.”
 
“The Obama Administration has a trust deficit.  Between immigration, marijuana, and Obamacare, the selective enforcement of laws is a real hurdle that Congress has a hard time getting over to pass immigration reform without assurances that the border will be secured.  Everybody’s time would be better served by working on legal immigration provisions such as ag and high-tech workers where there is broad consensus,” Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said.

According to a recent story from the Associated Press a policy change in the Obama administration’s immigration deportation policy is being considered by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson that would allow “tens of thousands of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally” to remain in the country.
 
The senators wrote, “Since 2009, your administration has issued policy directives and memoranda incrementally nullifying immigration enforcement in the interior of the United States – to the point that unless individuals in the country illegally are apprehended, tried, and convicted for a felony or other serious offense, they are free to obtain fraudulent documents and live and work in the country.”
 
The senators continued, “These policies have operated as an effective repeal of duly enacted federal immigration law and exceed the bounds of the executive branch’s prosecutorial discretion…Congress has not passed laws permitting people to illegally enter the country or to ignore their visa expiration dates.”  In their letter, they asked the President to uphold the oath he took to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.
 
Along with Grassley, the letter was signed by Senators Mitch McConnell, Richard Shelby, Mike Lee, Johnny Isakson, Mike Johanns, James Inhofe, John Boozman, David Vitter, James Risch, Pat Roberts, Mike Crapo, Roy Blunt, Thad Cochran, Saxby Chambliss, Tim Scott, Tom Coburn, Deb Fischer, Ted Cruz, John Hoeven, Jeff Sessions and Orrin Hatch.

A copy of the text of the letter can be found below.  A signed copy can be found here.
 
 
                                                                        April 24, 2014
 
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
 
Dear President Obama: 
 
We write to express our grave concerns over the immigration “enforcement review” that you ordered after meeting with advocacy groups on March 13, 2014, and that is now being carried out by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  According to reports, the changes under consideration would represent a near complete abandonment of basic immigration enforcement and discard the rule of law and the notion that the United States has enforceable borders. 
 
Clearly, the urgent task facing your administration is to improve immigration enforcement, not to look for new ways to weaken it.  Since 2009, your administration has issued policy directives and memoranda incrementally nullifying immigration enforcement in the interior of the United States – to the point that unless individuals in the country illegally are apprehended, tried, and convicted for a felony or other serious offense, they are free to  live and work in the country. 
 
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) own figures, in 2013, nearly all individuals removed from the United States were convicted criminals and recent border crossers.[1] As the LA Times reported, there has been a 40% decline, since 2009, in removals of individuals living and working in the interior of the country.[2]   And, recently revealed documents from ICE show that, in 2013, the agency released 68,000 potentially deportable aliens deemed by ICE to pose a criminal threat. 
 
As a result of your policies, individuals here illegally who do not meet administration “priorities” are not only largely exempt from the law, but are released even if they come into contact with federal law enforcement authorities.  Because these priorities require at least one, and frequently multiple, criminal convictions, countless dangerous offenders are released back onto the streets on a continual basis.  Since ICE frequently takes no action until after the most serious crimes have occurred and the offenders have been tried and imprisoned, the administration is allowing preventable crimes harming innocent people to take place every day.  
 
Chris Crane, President of the National ICE Council, testified before Congress about the inability of ICE agents to do their jobs.  “I think most Americans assume that ICE agents and officers are empowered by the Government to enforce the law. Nothing could be further from the truth. With 11 million people in the country illegally, ICE agents are now prohibited from arresting individuals solely on charges of illegal entry or visa overstay—the two most frequently violated sections of U.S. immigration law.”  He also described how your administration is punishing ICE agents who want to uphold the oath they took to serve America.  He stated, “As criminal aliens are released to the streets and ICE instead takes disciplinary actions against its own officers for making lawful arrests, it appears clear that Federal law enforcement officers are the enemy and not those that break our Nation’s laws.”[3]
 
These policies have operated as an effective repeal of duly enacted federal immigration law and exceed the bounds of the executive branch’s prosecutorial discretion.  It is not the province of the Executive to nullify the laws that the people of the United States, through their elected representatives, have chosen to enact.  To the contrary, it is the duty of the Executive to take care that these laws are faithfully executed.  Congress has not passed laws permitting people to illegally enter the country or to ignore their visa expiration dates, so long as they don’t have a felony conviction or other severe offense on their record.  Your actions demonstrate an astonishing disregard for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the rights of American citizens and legal residents.
 
Our entire constitutional system is threatened when the Executive Branch suspends the law at its whim and our nation’s sovereignty is imperiled when the commander-in-chief refuses to defend the integrity of its borders.
 
You swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.  We therefore ask you to uphold that oath and to carry out the duties required by the Constitution and entrusted to you by the American people. 
 
                                                                        Sincerely,

1 ICE Press Release, December 19, 2013.
2 "High deportation figures are misleading," Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2014.
3 Hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, February 13, 2013.