Senator Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) dubbed President Obama’s executive orders on immigration “an offense to the very idea of citizenship” following a top House Republican’s discovery that the deferred action program contains a “sneaky” pathway to citizenship.
“Perhaps this newest scandal will finally provide our Senate Democrat colleagues with reason enough to end their filibuster and allow debate on the House funding bill to proceed,” Sessions said in a statement to National Review Online. “Maintaining and enforcing borders, and the rules of exit and departure, are not partisan fodder but the pillars of sovereignty; at its most basic level, the question for the nation is whether we wish to remain one.”
House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) announced Friday that U.S. Customs and Immigration Services staff had admitted that illegal immigrants who enroll in the deferred action program can also apply for advance parole.
“As you know, when an individual receives advance parole, upon return to the United States the individual can then be eligible to adjust to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status,” Goodlatte wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. “And as you know, lawful permanent resident status is the precursor to U.S. citizenship. A simple search of the Internet reveals that immigration reform advocacy groups and immigration benefits law practices are fully aware of the path to citizenship that is afforded to DACA recipients through advance parole.”
Sessions, commenting on Goodlatte’s revelation, added that “such a policy extends birthright citizenship to the foreign-born who unlawfully set their feet upon American soil.”
Here’s his full statement:
Every day seemingly brings a new revelation about the President’s executive amnesty. We’ve learned that illegal immigrants will be given billions in free cash tax credits. We’ve learned that illegal immigrants will be given trillions in lifetime federal entitlement benefits through Social Security and Medicare. We’ve learned that illegal immigrants will be given driver’s licenses, creating new avenues for voter fraud. We’ve learned that the President’s edict will allow companies to replace American workers with illegal workers instead.
Our laws have been dismantled, stripped bare.
Now today House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte has unearthed a new scandal. In his executive decree, the President has opened up the possibility that hundreds of thousands of individuals illegally in the United States will be ‘paroled’ and given U.S. citizenship. Such a policy extends birthright citizenship to the foreign-born who unlawfully set their feet upon American soil.
It is an offense to the very idea of citizenship as something sacred, precious and treasured.
Perhaps this newest scandal will finally provide our Senate Democrat colleagues with reason enough to end their filibuster and allow debate on the House funding bill to proceed. Maintaining and enforcing borders, and the rules of exit and departure, are not partisan fodder but the pillars of sovereignty; at its most basic level, the question for the nation is whether we wish to remain one.