Blumenthal, Whitehouse In Letter To Obama: Use Executive Authority To Repair America’s Broken Immigration System

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today wrote to President Obama urging him to take “bold, decisive action to reform America’s broken immigration system.” The Senators – both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, former U.S. Attorneys and State Attorneys General – wrote:

“We believe the status quo undermines respect for the law and threatens public safety… If millions of immigrants step out of the shadows, work in legitimate jobs, and pay taxes, law enforcement will gain an immensely valuable advantage. They can focus resources on anyone who cannot pass a background check or chooses not to participate in the legal economy. Further, law enforcement will know who lives in the communities they police; community residents will feel more comfortable reporting crimes and cooperating with authorities; and undocumented individuals who truly pose a threat to their neighbors will be easier to identify and remove.”

The full text of the Blumenthal-Whitehouse letter is below:

November 18, 2014

The Honorable Barack Obama

President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

We write to urge you to take bold, decisive action to reform America’s broken immigration system. While Congress must pass comprehensive immigration reform to provide a permanent solution, the American people cannot afford to wait for legislative action that has already been too long delayed. You have the authority and the responsibility to institute crucial reforms today.

            As we write, more than 11 million people live in fear that at any moment they may be deported. Children, including many U.S. citizens, must accept the possibility that one day they will return from school and a parent will be gone. Immigrants who want nothing more than to work hard and support their families are instead forced into the underground economy. People who have never known any country but the United States risk being deported to a land they left when they were children.

            As former U.S. Attorneys and Attorneys General, we believe the status quo undermines respect for the law and threatens public safety. The rule of law relies on the principle that state power is used rationally and humanely, not randomly and indiscriminately. Law enforcement best serves citizens when it makes efficient use of resources to address direct threats to public order and safety. Our immigration system makes a mockery of this principle – one that would only be compounded by an impossible effort to deport all 11 million undocumented individuals in this country. Such an effort could only lead to near-random but hugely destructive impacts on families, businesses, and communities, as well as heightening the climate of fear that hinders efforts to promote public safety and legitimate economic activity. You have the power to allow those immigrants who would never be targeted by any responsible and rational immigration system to step out of the shadows. By clearly identifying groups of individuals who are a low priority for deportation and letting them pass a background check, gain work authorization, and live with less anxiety, you can build an immigration system that is less arbitrary and more effective.

            Such a moratorium on deportations, in effect a deferral of action, for immigrants who can pass a background check and satisfy other criteria will help to keep Americans safe. If millions of immigrants step out of the shadows, work in legitimate jobs, and pay taxes, law enforcement will gain an immensely valuable advantage. They can focus resources on anyone who cannot pass a background check or chooses not to participate in the legal economy. Further, law enforcement will know who lives in the communities they police; community residents will feel more comfortable reporting crimes and cooperating with authorities; and undocumented individuals who truly pose a threat to their neighbors will be easier to identify and remove.

            Some have urged you to delay action on immigration until the new Congress has a chance to act. But regardless of whether you believe that Congressional action is imminent, delay is the wrong strategy. If Congressional leaders intend to quickly pass comprehensive immigration reform, then any action you take will simply demonstrate that these reforms are practical and positive. Legislative action will supplant and complete whatever action you choose to take. If, on the other hand, Congress is not poised to act, then there is no reason to delay. As active participants in the thoughtful process that produced a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate last year, only to watch that legislation frustrated by the refusal to allow a vote in the House, we feel that executive action is needed to spur Congressional action.

            You have shown tremendous leadership in providing deferred action through DACA to many DREAMers, and your actions to help these young people can serve as a blueprint for providing relief to other immigrants. The bipartisan immigration reform bill, passed with 68 votes in the Senate last year, provides a further outline of reasonable executive action. At a minimum, we urge you to ease the minds of children who live in fear of losing their parents. Children should not have to choose between living with the parents they love and living in the nation they love.

We encourage you to go big. The nation has a historic opportunity to keep families together, target federal resources more effectively, and build an immigration system that reflects America’s values and contributes to America’s future. You have the power, and the responsibility, to seize it.

            Thank you for your leadership on this issue. We look forward to working with you moving forward.

Sincerely,

Senators Blumenthal and Whitehouse