[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 132 (Thursday, September 8, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H5969-H5970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CHIEF ENFORCER OF THE LAW OR CHIEF IGNORER OF THE LAW?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I come today to talk to you about 
something pretty basic--that is our Constitution, the way our 
Constitution was set up. We all learned in civics that this body, 
Congress, writes the laws for the people.
  Down the street the Supreme Court interprets that law, they judge 
that law. And the executive branch is the branch of government that we 
expect through our Constitution to execute the law or enforce the law. 
In fact, our Constitution in article 2 states specifically about the 
President and gives the President a job and a duty that no other person 
in this country has under our Constitution.
  Besides taking the oath to uphold the Constitution, article 2, 
section 3, says that the President shall ``take care that the laws be 
faithfully executed'', that the laws are in the hands of the President, 
and he is to take care that he fulfills his obligation to execute

[[Page H5970]]

those laws, to follow those laws. That's the way our Constitution is 
set up, but that is not occurring. Because, you see, we have laws in 
this country that this body has passed that the administration doesn't 
want to enforce.
  In fact, recently, the administration sent down an edict through its 
administrative agencies and said no longer will the President be the 
chief enforcer of the law. He will, in my opinion, become the chief 
ignorer of the law, the immigration laws. Because, you see, Immigration 
Services has decided, well, we are really not going to enforce the law 
that applies to all of those people that are here in the United States 
illegally.
  So we are going to defer action. What does that mean? Here's what it 
means, Mr. Speaker. It means that people who have been charged with 
being in the country illegally, who are waiting for their hearings, 
waiting to be deported, they are going to get a pass if they haven't 
committed some serious crime or some other condition that Immigration 
Services has outlined.
  And if people are in this country illegally and they haven't 
committed a violent crime, well, they are going to get a pass too. They 
are not going to be deported because the law will not be enforced. The 
action of prosecuting them will be deferred indefinitely.
  Now, whether it's a good idea or not to let certain people stay in 
the country because of certain reasons is not the issue. The issue is 
Congress has not authorized this so-called prosecutorial discretion. I 
was a prosecutor, many Members were prosecutors. Before I was a judge, 
I was a prosecutor.
  Prosecutorial discretion means this: A case comes before the 
prosecutors's office and you read the case and you find out, hey, this 
person may not be guilty or there is no evidence to prove they did 
this. So you dismiss that case because the person is innocent.
  The law sets up reasons for why there is prosecutorial discretion, 
but not so anymore. The Administration has written execeptions to the 
law. There are 20 reasons, Immigration Services says--by no means these 
are exhaustive--why people should not be deported any longer.
  What that means is Immigration Services has given a list of reasons, 
well, we are not going to deport these people for these reasons. They 
don't have that authority. Congress writes the laws, not the 
administration. And just because the administration doesn't like the 
law gives them no authority to say we are going to ignore certain laws 
for this reason. I notice that this memo that came out from Immigration 
Service came out while Congress was in recess.
  The chief enforcer of the law has the duty to enforce the rule of 
law. We write them, the President enforces it. Whether the President, 
the administration, Immigration Services likes it or not, they are 
going to enforce the rule of law and not come out with some memo 
saying, well, here are some exceptions to the law, we are just not 
going to get around to deporting people because of these numerous 
reasons.

                              {time}  1010

  In essence, the administration has altered the law by edict--or by 
memo in this case. It is the obligation of the chief enforcer of the 
law to enforce the rule of law, not to give a pass to certain people 
that are in this country illegally because of certain reasons. I don't 
know the reason why the President has made this decision. People can 
conjecture up their own reasons why certain folks are getting a pass.
  But it is great news for people who are in the country illegally. 
It's great news for people who are coming to the country illegally. The 
Government is saying: ``It's okay to stay in America as long as you 
don't commit some serious crime in the United States.'' And it is an 
obligation of the President to enforce the law, enforce the immigration 
laws that we write and not become the chief ignorer of the laws.
  And that's just the way it is.

 Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion Consistent with the Priorities of 
   the Agency for the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Aliens


      Factors to Consider When Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion

       When weighing whether an exercise of prosecutorial 
     discretion may be warranted for a given alien, ICE officers, 
     agents, and attorneys should consider all relevant factors, 
     including, but not limited to--
       the agency's civil immigration enforcement priorities;
       the person's length of presence in the United States, with 
     particular consideration given to presence while in lawful 
     status;
       the circumstances of the person's arrival in the United 
     States and the manner of his or her entry, particularly if 
     the alien came to the United States as a young child;
       the person's pursuit of education in the United States, 
     with particular consideration given to those who have 
     graduated from a U.S. high school or have successfully 
     pursued or are pursuing a college or advanced degrees at a 
     legitimate institution of higher education in the United 
     States;
       whether the person, or the person's immediate relative, has 
     served in the U.S. military, reserves, or national guard, 
     with particular consideration given to those who served in 
     combat;
       the person's criminal history, including arrests, prior 
     convictions, or outstanding arrest warrants;
       the person's immigration history, including any prior 
     removal, outstanding order of removal, prior denial of 
     status, or evidence of fraud;
       whether the person poses a national security or public 
     safety concern;
       the person's ties and contributions to the community, 
     including family relationships;
       the person's ties to the home country and conditions in the 
     country;
       the person's age, with particular consideration given to 
     minors and the elderly;
       whether the person has a U.S. citizen or permanent resident 
     spouse, child, or parent;
       whether the person is the primary caretaker of a person 
     with a mental or physical disability, minor, or seriously ill 
     relative;
       whether the person or the person's spouse is pregnant or 
     nursing;
       whether the person or the person's spouse suffers from 
     severe mental or physical illness;
       whether the person's nationality renders removal unlikely;
       whether the person is likely to be granted temporary or 
     permanent status or other relief from removal, including as a 
     relative of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident;
       whether the person is likely to be granted temporary or 
     permanent status or other relief from removal, including as 
     an asylum seeker, or a victim of domestic violence, human 
     trafficking, or other crime; and
       whether the person is currently cooperating or has 
     cooperated with federal, state or local law enforcement 
     authorities, such as ICE, the U.S. Attorneys or Department of 
     Justice, the Department of Labor, or National Labor Relations 
     Board, among others.
       This list is not exhaustive and no one factor is 
     determinative. ICE officers, agents, and attorneys should 
     always consider prosecutorial discretion on a case-by-case 
     basis. The decisions should be based on the totality of the 
     circumstances, with the goal of conforming to ICE's 
     enforcement priorities.

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