Griffin Rebukes the President's Unconstitutional Executive Action on Immigration

Press Release

Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) released the following statement today after the House passed the Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act (H.R. 5759) in response to the President's recent executive action on immigration:

"Today's bill is largely symbolic -- unlikely to be taken up by Harry Reid's Senate or signed by the President -- but we cannot sit by and do nothing while the President makes unilateral decisions that circumvent the constitutional role of Congress and insult the majority of the American people who voted on November 4th to reject the President's go-it-alone policies. My colleagues and I in the House took the first step to stop the President's unconstitutional immigration action in August, we took another today and we will continue to seek additional options to fight the President's plan, including legal action. Although I leave Congress in January, I am confident my Republican colleagues in the House and Senate will see this fight for the Constitution and the rule of law through and will prevail."

The Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act, which passed the House by a vote of 219-197, prohibits the executive branch from exempting from removal or deferring removal of categories of undocumented immigrants who are unlawfully present in the U.S.--whether by executive order, regulation or any other means. The bill prohibits the executive branch from treating such undocumented immigrants as if they were lawfully present or had a lawful immigration status, or granting them work authorization. The bill contains exceptions for extraordinary humanitarian and law enforcement reasons. Actions taken for the purpose of circumventing the bill shall be null and void and without legal effect. The effective date is November 20, 2014 and applies to requests (both original requests and requests for reopening previously denied requests) submitted for work authorization or exemption from, or deferral of, removal.

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