Obama’s amnesty

This is in response to
“The HALT Act; It’s a game of gotcha” (Editorial, July 23). What
really needs to be stopped is the Obama administration’s attempt to implement a
back-door amnesty.

Although Congress has
defeated amnesty for illegal immigrants several times in recent years, this has
not stopped President Barack Obama and his administration from abusing executive-branch authority to
allow illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. While this authority is
justifiable when exercised responsibly and on a case-by-case basis, actions
taken by the Obama administration demonstrate that it plans to use it for
entire categories of illegal immigrants. If the administration gets its way,
millions of illegal immigrants will be allowed to remain in the U.S. without a
vote of Congress.

That is why I have
introduced the Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation Act, also
known as the HALT Act, which will prevent the Obama administration from
implementing a back-door amnesty.

The writers of the
U.S. Constitution put Congress in charge of setting our immigration policy, but
the Obama administration continues to ignore the will of Congress and the
American people. Congress makes the laws; the executive enforces them. The
president is supposed to execute all the laws adopted by Congress; he does not
get to pick and choose which laws his administration will enforce. Congress
must put a halt to administrative amnesty.

— U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of
the House Judiciary Committee
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-vp-0731voicelettersbriefs-20110731,0,2521514.story?page=2By: Rep. Lamar Smith — Chicago Tribune