Obama administration’s attempt to implement a backdoor amnesty must be stopped

Grace Meng gets it wrong in her recent op-ed, “Put a stop to the HALT Act.” What really needs to be stopped is the Obama administration’s attempt to implement a backdoor amnesty.

Although Congress has defeated amnesty for illegal immigrants several times in recent years, this has not stopped President Obama and his administration from abusing executive branch authority to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States.

Last month, Administration officials caved to pressure from their liberal base and announced changes to Secure Communities. This program keeps our neighborhoods safe by identifying illegal and criminal immigrants in police custody who have been arrested and fingerprinted. But the changes made by the Administration will undermine this commonsense program and could open the door to allow millions of illegal and criminal immigrants avoid current immigration laws. 

While executive branch authority is justifiable when exercised responsibly, actions taken by the Administration demonstrate that they cannot be trusted with this power. If the Administration gets its way, millions of illegal immigrants will be allowed to remain in the U.S. without a vote of Congress. 

That is why I have introduced the Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation Act, also known as the HALT Act, which will prevent the Obama administration from implementing a backdoor amnesty.  

The writers of the U.S. Constitution put Congress in charge of setting our immigration policy but the Obama administration continues to ignore the will of Congress and the American people. The Obama administration should not pick and choose which laws it will enforce. Congress must put a halt to administrative amnesty. 

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

---