Last week President Barack Obama signed an executive order that would require a “case-by-case review of deportations, allowing many undocumented immigrants without criminal records to stay in the United States.”
This order lifts the hopes of many Latino youth who were brought here as children and have been fighting for citizenship in a country they call home.
While there is a large population celebrating this victory for immigrant rights, many people are worried about the larger implications of such an act.
Republican members of both houses of Congress believe this order was an attempt to circumvent Congressional authority because of the Obama administration’s inability to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
In an interview with Houston radio host Joe Pagliarulo, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, indicated that the new order would permit hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to be given work authorizations, and undermine both the legislative and judicial branches of government.
“They can even reverse a final order by a judge who has told an individual that they have got to leave the country. Even that can be reversed and that individual may not be sent home,” Smith said.
Most people can agree that something needs to be done about illegal immigration. Many agree that those who were brought into the country as children should not suffer for the unlawful acts committed on by their parents.
However, the question of which measures are most effective and ethical still remains.
Although reform is needed, it is imperative that the three branches of government remain within their constitutional restrictions and avoid the usurpation of authority from one branch to another.
Obama’s actions should be questioned because he is circumventing the authority of Congress through the use of executive power.
Executive orders have been issued since 1789, mostly in an effort to enable the full enforcement of laws enacted through the congressional process. In this case, it seems as though this attempt to rectify an injustice has actually created another injustice, one that directly violates the Constitution.
In the majority decision of the Supreme Court in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, Justice Black stated “the President's power, if any, to issue the order must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself … In the framework of our Constitution, the President's power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is to be a lawmaker.”
The president swore to uphold the laws of the land, which include those with which he doesn’t like or agree. Congress enacted the current immigration policy, and any changes made to the policy must also be made through them. The use of executive power to bypass the legislative process violates the oath the President took, and should be challenged in our courts and by the American people.
This order effectively legislates the DREAM Act — legislation that grants amnesty to illegal aliens who entered the U.S. as minors if they complete two years of college or serve in the military — since deportations will be halted for many who meet this various criteria.
Currently, only certain offenses require deportation.
The Obama administration should be careful that in their fervor to correct the immigration issue, for though correction is desperately needed, it must meet constitutional muster.
Reach the columnist at page.gerrick@asu.edu.
