The Morton Amnesty Considered

Brenda Walker

06/26/2011

When Barack Obama appeared for a Spanish-speaking town hall event on Univision in March (where he said he wanted illegal alien students to succeed), he was asked why he couldn’t use his big Presidential powers to stop deportations. "With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case," Obama said.

His way of answering "no" seemed definite up to a point, but also had an undercurrent that suggested he would finagle an executive amnesty if he thought he could get away with it.

One strategy might be to get an obedient underling to issue a memo dialing back on who gets chosen for a free trip home. So we see ICE Director John Morton’s June 17 memo instructing agency leaders to use "discretion" in deciding whom to deport. In other words, ease off of anyone who isn’t a mass murderer.

At one point, Morton specifies "positive factors should prompt particular care and consideration"; it’s a list which includes every possibly sympathetic category except owners of fluffy kittens.

At least one writer has compared the memo to the DREAM Act, but Morton’s directions go far beyond that. It would be more appropriate to ask who isn’t included.

Below, young illegal aliens dressed in student graduation outfits demand more free education beyond K-12.

Interestingly, the list protects illegal aliens who are the most expensive users of taxpayer-funded medical services: those who "suffer from a serious mental or physical disability; and individuals with serious health condition." Let no opportunity for excessive spending go unused — that’s the Washington way! The medical moocher Ana Puente who cost California taxpayers over $1 million for three liver transplants comes to mind, and she’s just one example of a person brought to this country specifically for free-to-them healthcare. An honest Colorado report noted that hundreds of illegal aliens came to that state to obtain medical care for their expensive conditions.

Now ICE agents are told to avoid deporting foreign welfare abusers. When word gets around, freebie no-deport medical care will be another alien magnet.

Rep. Lamar Smith has written up a bill to fight the Morton-Obama Amnesty, however it’s doubtful the legislation could get through the Democrat Senate, much less the President’s handy autopen. But it’s better to do something than do nothing.

Republicans seek to roll back discretion in immigration cases, Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2011

House Republicans are targeting an Obama administration effort to give immigration officials more leeway when it comes to deciding who to deport from the U.S.

Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, plans to introduce legislation next month that would suspend the Obama administration’s ability to exercise executive discretion in immigration cases.

Smith’s bill, called the HALT Act, would strip the administration’s power to defer deportation of immigration violators, grant work authorization or grant temporary protected status to immigrants who are fleeing a disaster.

The bill is aimed only at the Obama administration: In the proposed legislation, the executive powers would be restored at the end of this presidential term.

"Because of the Obama administration’s record, it cannot be trusted with these powers," said Smith in a letter dated June 23 encouraging other House members to sponsor the bill with him.

The bill has little chance of becoming law. Even if the bill passed the House, it probably would not pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Smith’s move comes a week after the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement instructed immigration officials to take into account a number of factors when deciding whether to continue deportation proceedings against an individual, such as a person’s pursuit of education and whether the person came to the U.S. as a young child and has family relationships in the U.S.

The policy changes by the administration came in response to concerns that a federal information-sharing program called Secure Communities was unintentionally ensnaring illegal immigrants who are minor offenders, victims of domestic abuse and other crimes, witnesses to crimes and people who were arrested but not convicted of offenses.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) has pushed for changes to the Secure Communities program and described the new policy guidelines as a "step forward."

Still, the changes didn’t address concerns by local sheriffs that illegal immigrants will be less likely to report crimes if local fingerprint checks are linked with the immigration database, Lofgren said in an interview on Friday.

Also, Lofgren is concerned that immigration agents on the ground may not follow the new instructions.

Chris Crane, president of the National ICE Council union that represents about 7,000 ICE employees, called the new directives a "law enforcement nightmare" that make it difficult for ICE agents to know who can and cannot be arrested.

Some of the new factors in the June 17 memo from ICE Director John Morton corresponded with circumstances that would make someone eligible for the DREAM Act, a proposed law that has yet to get through Congress but would create a path to citizenship for young people in the country illegally who go to college or serve in the military.

"The Obama administration cannot continue to pick and choose which laws it will enforce," said Smith in a statement Friday. Smith plans to introduce the HALT Act sometime next month.

The DREAM Act, which is under consideration in the Senate, will be the subject of a Senate hearing Tuesday.

Smith plans to introduce the HALT Act sometime next month. The HALT Act stands for "Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation" Act.

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