PRESIDENT IS WRONG AND TIERNEY IS SILENT ON WAIVING IMMIGRATION LAWS

(Lynnfield, MA) — Acting without Congress, President Obama yesterday began a new immigration program by executive order that will make an estimated 2 million illegal immigrants eligible for work permits that will render their presence in the U.S. legal. Congressional candidate Richard Tisei criticized the unilateral act by the President as a direct infringement on the authority of Congress in enacting the country’s immigration laws.

“We do have large numbers of people who are here illegally and we have to face that reality and create solutions,” said Tisei. “But for the President to simply ignore Congress and announce, as he did in June, that he would ignore our current laws and order ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to begin what amounts to an amnesty program for illegals is completely improper. Whether a person agrees with the President or not on the particulars of the policy, this is not the way to do it. This unilateral action is well beyond the Constitutional authority of the President. This is overreach as well as politicization of a very hot topic in this country – just before an election – and it is wrong.”

Under the program, announced by President Obama in June, young illegals will not be deported if they were brought to the United States before age 16 and have remained for at least 5 years without leaving. They must also be under the age of 31 with no criminal history. They must be enrolled in school at the time of the request or have graduated from high school, obtained a GED certificate, or are honorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces. They cannot have been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, or otherwise pose a threat to national security.

“As a state senator, I opposed measures that put illegal immigrants at the front of the line ahead of legal immigrants. In 2010, Gov. Deval Patrick advocated granting illegals in-state tuition. I opposed it. But at least Gov. Patrick went through the legislature and not around it. To have gone around it would have been well beyond his authority, as it is well beyond any President’s authority to do what President Obama has done under this deferred action program,” said Tisei.

“The President should have proposed this in legislation and worked with both parties to find common sense solutions to our broken immigration system,” said Tisei. “Instead, in an election year, he went well beyond his Constitutional powers. It’s true that we need to resolve our immigration problems and much of this policy sounds reasonable, but that’s a matter for the people’s representatives to take up – not Presidential decree.”

“In a time when jobs are scarce, it’s very questionable whether adding millions of new legal workers to the system is a good idea. Conceivably, that could put illegals in line for jobs ahead of native born and legally present immigrants,” said Tisei. “That deserves a very good look before simply being implemented by Presidential decree.”

“Again, it appears that my opponent, John Tierney, hasn’t found his voice on this matter,” said Tisei. “If George W. Bush had acted by decree in this way, John Tierney would have been howling from the rafters at the degree of Presidential overreach. I don’t care which President it is, this isn’t an appropriate solution to a complex and massive problem.”

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