Obama knows and has admitted he can't reform immigration without Congressional action

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When he ran for president, Presidential candidate Sen. Obama promised to roll back President George W. Bush’s use of executive power:

I taught constitutional law for ten years. I take the constitution very seriously. The biggest problem that we’re facing right now has to do with George Bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all, and that’s what I intend to reverse when I’m president of the United States of America. (Sen. Obama at a Townhall in Lancaster, PA, March 31, 2008)

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Obama ran for president promising secure borders, remove incentives for illegal immigration, and to allow undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.

President Obama promised to make immigration reform a top priority of the first year of his presidency. After Obama backed away from that promise, and it was clear his ObamaCrats were going to lose the House in the 2010 midterm elections, he gave illegal aliens a back door amnesty.

After the Republicans regained control of the House illegal aliens clamored for Obama to deliver on his promised immigration reform. At two separate forums President Obama explained that there are laws on the books that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system and that to ignore those congressional mandates would “not conform with my appropriate role as President.”

During a Univision Town Hall on March 28, 2011, President Obama said that as president he can’t just congressional mandates through executive order:

“Well, first of all, temporary protective status historically has been used for special circumstances where you have immigrants to this country who are fleeing persecution in their countries, or there is some emergency situation in their native land that required them to come to the United States. So it would not be appropriate to use that just for a particular group that came here primarily, for example, because they were looking for economic opportunity.

With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed — and I know that everybody here at Bell is studying hard so you know that we’ve got three branches of government. Congress passes the law. The executive branch’s job is to enforce and implement those laws. And then the judiciary has to interpret the laws.

There are enough laws on the books by Congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system that for me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as President.

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You can watch Obama admit he cant ignore congressional mandates in this video:

Then six months later during Obama’s September 28, 2011 “Open for Questions” round table on issues that matter to the Hispanic community, Obama again admitted he can’t act on immigration unilaterally:

“MR. LERNER: Me again. On the DREAM Act that you mentioned before, and this is like a statement from New York City: Mr. President, I am an undocumented law graduate from New York City. I’m just writing to say that your message that you do not have a dance partner is not a message of hope. A real dancer goes out on the dance floor and picks out his or her dance partner. You’re just waiting. You have the facts, numbers, dollars and votes on the side of granting administrative relief for DREAMers. We are doing our part. It is time to do yours, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: I just have to continue to say this notion that somehow I can just change the laws unilaterally is just not true. We are doing everything we can administratively. But the fact of the matter is there are laws on the books that I have to enforce. And I think there’s been a great disservice done to the cause of getting the DREAM Act passed and getting comprehensive immigration passed by perpetrating the notion that somehow, by myself, I can go and do these things. It’s just not true.

Now, what we can do is to prioritize enforcement, since there are limited enforcement resources, and say we’re not going to go chasing after this young man or anybody else who’s been acting responsibly and would otherwise qualify for legal status if the DREAM Act passed.

But we live in a democracy. You have to pass bills through the legislature, and then I can sign it. And if all the attention is focused away from the legislative process, then that is going to lead to a constant dead-end. We have to recognize how the system works, and then apply pressure to those places where votes can be gotten and, ultimately, we can get this thing solved. And nobody will be a stronger advocate for making that happen than me.”

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You can watch Obama admit that he can’t act unilaterally in this video clip:

Then in the heat of the 2012 presidential election, Obama desperate to change the subject from his “doing fine” reelection message, attempted to gain favor with the Latino electorate unhappy with his backdoor amnesty by revealing his immunity scheme for certain “younger” illegal aliens. Obama’s scheme sought to achieve some of the goals of the so-called DREAM Act, meant to establish a path toward citizenship for certain illegal aliens but consistently rejected by Congress.

Obama’s implemented his immunity scheme via executive fiat. In bypassing Congress, Obama blatantly ignored the rule of law that is the foundation of our democracy and violated his presidential oath to uphold the laws of this land. Obama’s abuse of power will ensure that those who, like me, believe that granting amnesty or immunity to illegal aliens encourages more illegal immigration will only become more determined in their opposition to congressional efforts to achieve similar results legitimately.

The current flood of Illegal alien “children” pouring across the border is proof that any form of amnesty or immunity will just result in more illegal immigration. If you need more proof, look at the results of  the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”). That “immigration reform” legalized four million illegal aliens. IRCA was a monumental failure. It has resulted in millions of new illegal aliens seeking legalization.

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There can be no effective immigration reform that does not first control the border and prevent people from over staying their visas.

So as the president’s Obamacrats and the biased media wing of the Democrats Party cheer Obama on, he prepares to act extra-legally again despite his statements admitting that he knows he can’t. This will only cause the impasse between Obama and the Congressional Republicans to get even worse.

 

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