[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 92 (Monday, June 18, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               DEPORTATION EXEMPTION FOR IMMIGRANT ALIENS

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                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 18, 2012

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, like many Americans, I was taken aback by 
the Administration's announcement last week that it would decline to 
enforce the law when it comes to the deportation of illegal aliens who 
were brought to our Nation as young children.
  I believe that the president is wrong on this issue--as wrong as he 
can be.
  We are a Nation of immigrants. We take pride in our immigrant roots. 
Southern West Virginia has a proud history of immigrant families and 
workers who migrated to the coal fields to live and work.
  For every immigrant who came to this country legally, abiding by the 
process and respecting the law, this action is a slap in the face. For 
the immigration and border security officers, who are working and 
risking their lives to enforce the law, this announcement is a slap in 
the face. For the American workers who will be forced to compete for 
American jobs against immigrant aliens, this announcement is a slap in 
the face.
  I share the frustration of many Americans in the stubborn refusal of 
the House Republican Majority in not taking action on critical 
legislation--a long-term surface transportation, budget and 
appropriations bills, and a host of expiring laws that run the gamut 
from tax breaks, to Medicare payments to our hospitals and health 
providers, to critical government programs; all of which are 
undermining confidence in the Congress as an institution and acting as 
deadweight on job creation and growth. To some extent, one could even 
argue the Congress has invited this executive action by refusing to act 
to strengthen our Nation's borders and immigration enforcement.
  But, a chief executive's decision, to bypass the Congress and refuse 
to implement the law, is unacceptable. It may make for good politics in 
some quarters of our Nation, but it sets a terrible and dangerous 
precedent.
  The Constitution requires the president to enforce the law. It 
authorizes the president to recommend changes to the law. It does not--
does not--permit the president to selectively choose which laws to 
enforce.
  The Congress must disabuse the president and every future president 
of the notion that laws with which the executive branch disagrees can 
be ignored. More important than party, and more important than 
presidential politics, must be the upholding of the Constitution and 
seeing to it that the laws are faithfully executed.

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