Appeals Court Ruling Sends a Clear Message that Presidents Cannot Nullify Immigration Law through Executive Action

Washington, D.C. – The following statement was issued by Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in response to Wednesday’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declaring the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to be unlawful:

“Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit correctly upheld a federal district judge’s ruling that the Obama-era DACA program is unlawful. Presidents do not have the authority to exempt entire classes of immigration lawbreakers from enforcement, or provide them with authorization to work in the United States, when federal statutes explicitly bar them from being here or working here.

“This ruling could not have been timelier. Building upon what we once thought was the pinnacle of unlawful executive action during the Obama administration, President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have been working around the clock to negate virtually every immigration law on the books. The end result? The worst border crisis in the history of our country with no end in sight.

“The response of the Biden administration and congressional Democrats to yesterday’s ruling is telling and discouraging, and demonstrates that they are the ones using DACA beneficiaries as political pawns. Rather than showing even the slightest bit of interest in addressing a raging border crisis they created, they called for mass amnesty – and not just for the 600,000 illegal aliens enrolled in DACA, but for upwards of 4 million immigration lawbreakers. Amnesty is their only solution when it comes to Congress exercising its power over immigration, and the American people are taking note.

“The multiple immigration crises facing our nation cannot be solved through unlawful executive action or an amnesty bill. They can only be addressed when the White House and congressional Democrats finally decide to act in good faith to restore the integrity of the countless immigration laws to which they have laid waste.”

EDITORS NOTE: This FAIR column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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