[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3015 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3015

   To establish a rule of construction clarifying the limitations on 
  executive authority to provide certain forms of immigration relief.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 12, 2014

   Mr. Paul introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish a rule of construction clarifying the limitations on 
  executive authority to provide certain forms of immigration relief.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Executive Overreach on 
Immigration Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds following:
            (1) Under article I, section 8, of the Constitution, 
        Congress has the power to ``establish an uniform Rule of 
        Naturalization''. As the Supreme Court held in Galvan v. Press, 
        ``the formulation of . . . policies [pertaining to the entry of 
        aliens and their right to remain here] is entrusted exclusively 
        to Congress has become about as firmly imbedded in the 
        legislative and judicial tissues of our body politic as any 
        aspect of our government''.
            (2) Under article II, section 3, of the Constitution, the 
        President is required to ``take Care that the Laws be 
        faithfully executed''.
            (3) Historically, executive branch officials have 
        legitimately exercised their prosecutorial discretion through 
        their constitutional power over foreign affairs to permit 
        individuals or narrow groups of noncitizens to remain in the 
        United States temporarily due to extraordinary circumstances in 
        their country of origin that pose an imminent threat to the 
        individuals' life or physical safety.
            (4) Prosecutorial discretion generally ought to be applied 
        on a case-by-case basis and not to whole categories of persons.
            (5) President Obama has stated at least 22 times in the 
        past that he can't ignore existing immigration law or create 
        his own immigration law.
            (6) President Obama's grant of deferred action to more than 
        4,000,000 unlawfully present aliens, as directed in a 
        memorandum issued by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Charles 
        Johnson on November 20, 2014, is without any constitutional or 
        statutory basis.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON UNILATERAL DEFERRAL OF DEPORTATIONS BY THE 
              EXECUTIVE BRANCH.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
executive branch of the Government shall not--
            (1) exempt or defer, by Executive order, regulation, or any 
        other means, categories of aliens considered under the 
        immigration laws (as defined in section 101(a)(17) of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) to be 
        unlawfully present in the United States from removal under such 
        laws;
            (2) treat aliens described in paragraph (1) as if they were 
        lawfully present or had a lawful immigration status; or
            (3) treat such aliens other than as unauthorized aliens (as 
        defined in section 274A(h)(3) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(3))).
    (b) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall apply except--
            (1) to the extent prohibited by the Constitution;
            (2) upon the request of Federal, State, or local law 
        enforcement agencies, for purposes of maintaining aliens in the 
        United States to be tried for crimes or to be witnesses at 
        trial; or
            (3) for humanitarian purposes in which the aliens are at 
        imminent risk of serious bodily harm or death.
    (c) Effect of Executive Action.--Any action by the executive branch 
with the purpose of circumventing the objectives of this section shall 
be null and void and without legal effect.
    (d) Effective Date.--This section shall--
            (1) take effect as if enacted on November 20, 2014; and
            (2) apply to requests (regardless of whether the request is 
        original or for reopening of a previously denied request) 
        submitted on or after such date for--
                    (A) work authorization; or
                    (B) exemption from, or deferral of, removal.
                                 <all>