[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 29, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H6984-H6985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PREVENTING EXPANSION OF DACA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of a bill I 
introduced to prevent the expansion of the Deferred Action for 
Childhood Arrivals program that was unlawfully created by executive 
memo on August 15, 2012. H.R. 5160 is the House companion to 
legislation introduced by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and would freeze 
DACA by defunding it.
  DACA promotes amnesty by using prosecutorial discretion to allow 
illegal immigrant children and those who came here illegally as 
children a deportation deferral to remain in the country for up to 2 
years. The deferral period is subject to renewal.
  DACA also permits illegal aliens to obtain work authorization, 
despite the fact that they are not in the country legally. This takes 
jobs away from hardworking American taxpayers and hurts our economy. 
According to ICE, remittances from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras 
are estimated to cost the U.S. taxpayer $10 billion a year.
  Last month, DHS Secretary Johnson announced that DACA would be 
extended and that those who have been protected from deportation would 
have a chance to renew their applications.
  Democrats say that DACA is irrelevant because it only applies to 
illegal immigrants who have been here since 2007, but let me tell you 
why DACA reform does matter.
  First, the administration will expand DACA. President Obama has 
instructed DHS Secretary Johnson and Attorney General Holder to come up 
with a list of executive actions to address immigration reform. DACA is 
going to be on that list.
  Second, DACA has given Central American children false hope that they 
will be able to obtain amnesty as those before them have done.
  DACA began in 2012, and the numbers tell the story. In fiscal year 
2013, there was a 305 percent increase in the number of unaccompanied 
alien children that came to the U.S. That figure is expected to 
increase by 1,381 percent in fiscal year 2014. Yes, you heard me right: 
305 percent in 2013; 1,381 percent in 2014. Those numbers are evidence 
of the correlation between DACA and the influx of unaccompanied alien 
children coming to the U.S.
  Just recently, I learned that the administration secretly placed 760 
unaccompanied alien children into Tennessee. This was done despite 
assurances I had received from the administration that alien children 
were not in Tennessee. Indeed, the administration appears extremely 
organized and eager when it comes to resettling the illegal immigrants 
in this country. I wish they were as eager and organized about 
addressing the concerns of our veterans, some who have died while on 
the VA waiting list.
  Sadly, the President and the Democrats have moved from the party of 
``yes, we can'' to the party of ``because we can.'' DACA provides 
another example of how the President is using executive action to 
circumvent Congress.
  Soon, if he continues on this path, we won't need legislators or the 
courts. The President will make the law, interpret the law, and then, 
if he chooses, enforce the law. The Obama doctrine of lawlessness is 
cracking the foundation of our democracy. It is shredding the 
Constitution and consolidating power within the executive branch.

[[Page H6985]]

  Mr. Speaker, I ask, if the President has the power to tell illegal 
immigrants that they can stay in the country, does he have the power to 
tell legal citizens to leave the country? If the President can delay 
part of a law, does he have the power to delay the entire law? Where 
does his authority begin and end?
  The President's immigration policies are causing every town to be a 
border town, every State to be a border State. And not only is it 
turning America into a country without borders, it is turning it into a 
country without laws.
  Mr. Speaker, President Obama's inability to secure the southern 
border is also placing America's national security in a pre-9/11 
posture. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that 90,166 
unaccompanied children will arrive in the U.S. in 2014. If 90,000 
unaccompanied children can sneak into our country, how difficult will 
it be for a terror cell to infiltrate America and plan an attack?
  We need to be concerned about securing our borders. We must secure 
our border. We must end the cruelty of providing children with false 
hope, and we must stop the lawlessness of this President.

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