Sessions Says Congress Must Fight Executive Amnesty: 'This Cannot Stand. It Will Not Stand.'

Press Release

U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered the following prepared remarks on the Senate floor today:

"The American people have begged and pleaded for years for a lawful system of immigration. They have justly and rightly demanded that their elected officeholders enforce their laws, secure their communities, and protect the integrity of our national borders.

But these pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Our border is not secure; it is in crisis. Our communities are not safe; preventable crimes occur every day because our laws are not enforced. And our sovereignty is not protected; we have a President planning to issue a sweeping executive amnesty in violation of our laws and our constitutional separation of powers.

This cannot stand. It will not stand.

My position has been, and remains, that Congress should not pass border legislation that does not foreclose the possibility of these unlawful executive orders. Congress has a duty to protect itself as an institution and to protect our constituents. Currently, the President has issued approximately half a million work permits to individuals unlawfully present in the country up to 30 years of age. Now the President wants to issue another 5-6 million work permits to illegal immigrants of any age--despite the clear prohibition in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

This at a time when millions of Americans are out of work. President Obama's plan is a direct affront to every single unemployed American--particularly those in our poorest most vulnerable American communities. Who will speak for them? Who will give them a voice? Will this Congress? Will we hear their pleas?

Let's consider a bit more deeply for a moment what the President's executive action would do to enforcement in America. I have spoken many times with a great American by the name of Chris Crane. A former marine, he is also an ICE officer and President of the ICE Officers' Council. He has explained how his officers are ordered not do their jobs--ordered not to enforce the law. They have even sued the Secretary of Homeland Secretary for blocking them from fulfilling their oaths.

One of the things Mr. Crane explained is that the President's previous executive amnesty--for the so-called DREAMers--basically halted enforcement for anyone who asserted protections under the new administration policy. So Mr. Crane would report that ICE officers would come into contact with individuals unlawfully present in the country--individuals they would encounter in prisons and jails--and be forced to release them simply because they assert DREAMer protections.

Now, imagine then what will happen when the President expands his amnesty and work authorization program to cover millions of unlawful immigrants of all ages. Everyone ICE comes into contact with will assert protections, will claim to have failed an application, will say they are eligible for the new amnesty. What then? Will the FBI open investigations, check when they entered the country, who they entered with, where they are from? Of course not. ICE officers will again be ordered to stand down and no enforcement will occur. It will be the effective end of immigration enforcement in America--unless these plans are stopped.

We have also heard from the officers who process immigration applications. The dedicated folks at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. These are the people who would have to process these applications for legal status. Let me read at length from a statement from the President of the USCIS Council, the representative for USCIS personnel. He wrote last year:

USCIS adjudications officers are pressured to rubber stamp applications instead of conducting diligent case review and investigation. The culture at USCIS encourages all applications to be approved, discouraging proper investigation into red flags and discouraging the denial of any applications. USCIS has been turned into an "approval machine.'

USCIS has created an almost insurmountable bureaucracy which often prevents USCIS adjudications officers from contacting and coordinating with ICE agents and officers in cases that should have their involvement. USCIS officers are pressured to approve visa applications for many individuals ICE agents have determined should be placed into deportation proceedings.

USCIS officers who identify illegal aliens that, in accordance with law should be placed into immigration removal proceedings before a federal judge, are prevented from exercising their authority and responsibility to issue Notices To Appear (NTAs).

The attitude of USCIS management is not that the Agency serves the American public or the laws of the United States, or public safety and national security, but instead that the agency serves illegal aliens and the attorneys which represent them. While we believe in treating all people with respect, we are concerned that this agency tasked with such a vital security mission is too greatly influenced by special interest groups-to the point that it no longer properly performs its mission.

DHS and USCIS leadership have intentionally established an application process for DACA applicants that bypasses traditional in-person investigatory interviews with trained USCIS adjudications officers. These practices were put in place to stop proper screening and enforcement, and guarantee that applications will be rubber-stamped for approval, a practice that virtually guarantees widespread fraud and places public safety at risk.

U.S taxpayers are currently tasked with absorbing the cost of over $200 million worth of fee waivers bestowed on applicants for naturalization during the last fiscal year. This is in addition to the strain put on our Social Security system that has been depleted by an onslaught of refugees receiving SSI benefits as soon as their feet touch U.S. soil.

Large swaths of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) are not effectively enforced for legal immigrants and visa holders, including laws regarding public charges as well as many other provisions, as USCIS lacks the resources to adequately screen and scrutinize legal immigrants and non-immigrants seeking status adjustment. There is also insufficient screening and monitoring of student visas.

These are breathtaking reports from the frontlines of our immigration system. From the people who screen and review applications. Now think--just imagine--what will happen to our system if the President goes forward with his executive actions. It would overwhelm a system that is already buckling under the weight of the massive illegality on our southern border.

We must end the lawlessness. We can end the lawlessness. Let me repeat: it can be done. But, to do so, we must first stop further damage. We must prevent the President's massive executive amnesty from going forward. The public, once roused, will not be ignored. They will not let their representatives, in either party, acquiesce to this lawless scheme.

That is why have said that Congress, as an institution, must not support any border package that does not expressly prohibit the President's executive amnesty and block funds for its implementation. How can we not take this position? Are we really to recess for August having done nothing--said nothing--offered nothing to oppose the President in this way?

There is currently no legislation pending for a vote in either Chamber--House or Senate--which passes this test. As a result, both the House and Senate packages should not be supported.

Congress should not adjourn until it has firmly stood against the President's unconstitutional and dangerous action. The American people are asking us for help, pleading with us for help, and we must answer that call. We must fight for the lawful and just system of immigration that we can proud of.

Let's put this in a bigger picture. Wages are down. Labor force participation is at its lowest level in almost four decades. Since 2000, the federal government has lawfully issued nearly 30 million immigrant and foreign worker visas. Almost 30 million visas to legally work or permanently reside in the United States. During this time, the number of working-age Americans with jobs declined--on net, fewer U.S.-born workers 16-65 had jobs in 2014 than in the year 2000. The President's planned work permits for illegal immigrations is in addition then, to this already huge flow of low-wage labor into the United States. This flow of low-wage labor also pushes down wages for our recent immigrants looking to rise into the middle class.

Isn't it time we did something for American workers? Isn't it time, after forty years of lawless borders and open immigration, we looked out for them?"

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