On the recordMay 14, 2015
I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I support his amendment. The House should not take action to legitimize the President's unconstitutional overreach regarding immigration, especially that of creating a program to defer removal for an entire class of hundreds of thousands of unlawful aliens. The gentleman's amendment is necessary to preserve the Congress' constitutionally guaranteed plenary power over immigration law and policy. Whether and how to deal with unlawful aliens brought to the U.S. as minors by their parents is a question that we should debate thoroughly. And any legislative efforts regarding these individuals should move through regular order in the House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over immigration law and policy. Legitimate concerns must be considered when discussing this issue, not the least of which is whether the parents who brought the minor to the U.S. illegally should be able to ultimately benefit from the illegal activity by becoming permanent residents based on the legal status of the minor they brought here illegally in the first place. As the policy currently stands, that will happen if any Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient enlists in the military. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
