Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry said Friday that President Barack Obama’s decision to selectively enforce illegal immigration policy is an “election-year tactic to bypass Congress and arbitrarily grant amnesty to potentially millions of illegal immigrants [and] is another example of [the administration’s] blatant disregard for our Constitution, our rule of law and our democratic process.”
“The laws of this nation are not open to selective, convenient or political interpretation; they are the very foundation of our freedom, and the protections they guarantee make our nation strong and attractive to immigrants around the world – millions of whom abide by our laws and processes and seek legal entry,” Perry said in a statement. “These are decisions that should be thoroughly debated within the halls of Congress.”
“This Administration has failed to provide a secure border, which is essential to national security, and is instead granting blanket amnesty to those who have broken our laws,” Perry continued. “Failed border security and immigration policies have created a magnet for those who came in the first place. It’s clear President Obama prefers to upend the rule of law, picking winners and losers, rather than work with Congress and the American people on a sustainable, long-term solution.”
On Friday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the Obama administration’s plan to selectively enforce illegal immigration law by refusing to deport illegal aliens brought to the U.S. as “young children” — effectively an administrative version of the DREAM Act.
“Our nation’s immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible manner,” Napolitano said in a statement. “But they are not designed to be blindly enforced without consideration given to the individual circumstances of each case.”
Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King is planning to sue the Obama administration over the policy change.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King told The Daily Caller his committee is “launching an immediate review” of the administration’s decision to selectively enforcement immigration law, and many other congressional Republicans have come forward bashing the policy change.
