NWV News - Judge slams Obama's backdoor amnesty

JUDGE SLAMS OBAMA'S BACKDOOR AMNESTY

By NWV News Writer Jim Kouri
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
August 6, 2013
© 2013 NewsWithViews.com

Despite his court decision in favor of the Obama administration, a U.S. federal judge in a border state has slammed President Barack Obama's "backdoor amnesty" that prevents the deportation of about one million illegal aliens, ruling that it’s “contrary to congressional mandate,” a Beltway public-interest group reported on Friday.

The court case pitted the plaintiff Chris Crane, president of the National ICE Council, the union that represents Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers, against the defendant Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security, according to the civil action's seven-page document.

The ruling came from U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor in Dallas, Texas, who dismissed a lawsuit brought by 10 Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents opposed to implementing Obama’s amnesty, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

The Obama directive permits illegal immigrants, 30-year-old and under, to legally stay and obtain work-allowance papers if they came into the United States as children, according to Judicial Watch.

"The plaintiffs alleged that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) directives contained in memos authored by ICE Director John Morton and Secretary of Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano which constitute discretionary amnesty for illegal immigrants, are violations of federal law. Among the plaintiffs are Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who have been barred from effectively carrying out federal law by these executive agency directives," said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration & Border Security.

"Too often in the immigration debate, no one speaks up for the rank and file law enforcement officers and the citizens we protect. Large business groups and political advocacy groups are invited to the White House and other secret meetings. But those tasked with enforcing the law have no voice in the process," stated Chris Crane in his warning to the U.S. Senate to not rush their so-called gang-of-eight immigration legislation.

"The rationale used by Secretary Napolitano and her boss Barack Obama is that there illegal aliens are in the country “through no fault of their own” and therefore deserve special consideration," said former military intelligence officer and police detective Mike Snopes.

At the time President Obama's "directive was issued to stop deporting this particular group of illegal aliens, the federal [agents] claimed that they were being forced to violate their required duties set by Congress," said Judicial Watch officials.

The attorney representing the plaintiff Chris Crane argued that the ICE agents "were being ordered by their superiors to break federal law or face disciplinary action, saying that this is an abuse of authority," noted Judicial Watch.

Although Judge O’Connor dismissed Crane's and the ICE agents' lawsuit due to a procedural question, he did agree with some of its major points: For instance, in his seven-page opinion he writes that "the agents were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim challenging the directive, which the judge calls “contrary to the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implemented a program contrary to congressional mandate,” the written decision, as provided by Judicial Watch states.

"This [judge's ruling] proves that DACA, implemented via executive order by Obama last summer, violates federal law and therefore government agents have in fact been ordered to break the law," according to Judicial Watch officials.

"This has occurred repeatedly during Obama’s presidency, though the administration kept it largely under wraps rather than make it public like it did with the Rose Garden press conference to announce DACA," stated the officials.

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"Officers are forced to choose between fulfilling their sworn duties or losing their jobs, pensions and means of supporting their families. No immigration reform can succeed as long as federal officials can continue to unilaterally select which laws are enforced and which are not," said the ICE union's Chris Crane in a press statement released earlier this year.

Back in 2010 Texas’ largest newspaper, the Houston Chronicle, revealed that a then-secret "DHS initiative that systematically canceled pending deportations" was being implemented by DHS.

"The remarkable program stunned the legal profession and baffled immigration attorneys who revealed the government bounced their clients’ deportation even when expulsion was virtually guaranteed. It marked the beginning of the president’s stealth amnesty initiative," stated Judicial Watch officials.