Obama's amnesty
This is in response to "The HALT Act; It's a game of gotcha" (Editorial, July 23). What really needs to be stopped is the Obama administration's attempt to implement a back-door amnesty.
Although Congress has defeated amnesty for illegal immigrants several times in recent years, this has not stopped President Barack Obama and his administration from abusing executive-branch authority to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. While this authority is justifiable when exercised responsibly and on a case-by-case basis, actions taken by the Obama administration demonstrate that it plans to use it for entire categories of illegal immigrants. 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 back-door 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. Congress makes the laws; the executive enforces them. The president is supposed to execute all the laws adopted by Congress; he does not get to pick and choose which laws his administration will enforce. Congress must put a halt to administrative amnesty.
— U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-vp-0731voicelettersbriefs-20110731,0,2521514.story?page=2