New Report is First and Only to Comprehensively Detail Obama Immigration Policy Record

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Jul 24, 2012, 05:04 ET

Non-Enforcement, Deception, Intimidation and Unilateralism

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In June, President Obama announced that he would implement key provisions of the DREAM Act, effectively allowing upwards of a million illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. In doing so, the president unilaterally nullified numerous laws that have been enacted by Congress and is implementing a law Congress has repeatedly declined to enact. The president's action was not an aberration, but rather the culmination of his administration's assault on the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, finds a new report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

President Obama's Record of Dismantling Immigration Enforcement provides a comprehensive analysis of the Obama administration's relentless effort to undermine enforcement of most U.S. immigration laws. The study details dozens of incremental steps taken by the Obama administration to weaken and restrict immigration enforcement, raw intimidation against state and local governments which have attempted to enforce those laws on their own, and a campaign of deception designed to convince the American public that immigration laws are being forcefully carried out.

"In just three and half years, President Obama has effectively rewritten U.S. immigration policy without approval from Congress under the guise of exercising executive discretion," charged Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "The Obama administration has carried out its policies without regard to the security of the nation, or the impact of non-enforcement on the interests of the American people. Remarkably, even as he has brazenly defied the authority of Congress over immigration policy, he has encountered almost no resistance from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue."

Since taking office in 2009, the administration has:

Ended meaningful worksite enforcement against employers who hire illegal aliens as well as the removal of illegal workers from the country.
Severely limited immigration enforcement in the interior of the country.
Weakened or terminated effective partnership programs with state and local law enforcement designed to identify and detain deportable aliens.
Turned the Department of Justice (DOJ) into the administration's attack dog, filing lawsuits against state and local governments which have approved immigration enforcement laws, and using the Department's Civil Rights division to harass local governments when the lawsuits fail. At the same time, DOJ has ignored actions by states and localities which defy the administration's attempts to remove criminal aliens.
Appointed advocates for illegal aliens to key policymaking positions within the Executive Branch.
Repeatedly misrepresented and manipulated data in order to convince the American people that immigration laws are being enforced.
Effectively nullified numerous immigration laws through excessively broad exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

"President Obama came to office pledging to enact a comprehensive amnesty for illegal aliens during his first year in the White House. He quickly recognized that neither Congress nor the American people were prepared to go along with his agenda," noted Stein. "Rather than respect the will of the American people and the constitutional authority of Congress to determine U.S. immigration policy, he has, through a series of incremental steps, gutted immigration enforcement and assured illegal aliens who have not committed serious felonies that they would be allowed to remain in this country.

"President Obama's Record of Dismantling Immigration Enforcement lays bare the tactics employed by this administration for all to see. It is now incumbent upon Congress to reassert its constitutional authority and ensure that laws that were designed and enacted to protect the security and the interests of the American people are carried out," stated Stein.

The full report, President Obama's Record of Dismantling Immigration Enforcement, can be found at www.fairus.org.

About FAIR
Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 250,000 members nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced. Visit FAIR's website at www.fairus.org.

SOURCE FAIR