By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Friday, September 26, Senator Jeff Sessions in a written statement accused President Barack H. Obama of recruiting illegal aliens to directly displace U.S. Service members during a time of dramatic military layoffs.
Senator Sessions said, “With an unprecedented illegal immigration crisis raging, the President announces not enforcement actions to reduce illegality, but yet one more in an endless series of executive actions to further undermine immigration law. Once more, he has taken unilateral executive action that signals to the world that our borders are not being enforced.”
Sen. Sessions continued, “The President is launching a new effort to recruit illegal immigrants and visa overstays for the military at a time when thousands of career military personnel are facing layoffs—meaning that the President’s recruitment program will directly displace American military personnel. Military service is a high calling, and a noble career, and is most certainly not a job Americans won’t do.”
Sen. Sessions also reiterated his opposition to President Obama’s proposed end run around the Congress to gut decades of American immigration law. Sen. Sessions said, “The President has further pledged that, following the midterm elections, he will issue a sweeping executive amnesty for 5–6 million illegal immigrants and visa overstays. This executive amnesty will include work authorization, taking precious jobs directly from American workers at a time when 28.9 million Americans in their prime working years (25–54) don’t have a job.”
Sen. Sessions said, “In our economy, like our military, we have a shortage of jobs—not a shortage of workers. Instead of circumventing the law to eliminate our immigration controls, any President who cares about the rule of law would instead be taking lawful, constitutional executive actions to restore those laws and end the illegality.”
Sen. Sessions proposed a few concrete lawful for the President to undertake including: completing the border fence that Congress has previously passed into law; creating the exit-entry system to track foreign visa-holders already mandated by Congress; cancel visas to any country that won’t take back its own citizens; stop improperly issuing billions of dollars in child tax credits to illegal immigrants; enforce the currently un-enforced public charge rule for immigrants to the U.S., both legal and illegal; crack down on abuse of the H-1B guest worker program which is displacing U.S. workers; increase prosecutions under the proven Operation Streamline; target sanctuary cities instead of suing states that are trying to enforce the law; and cancel all meetings with pro-amnesty groups to plot executive amnesty. Sen. Sessions urged that President Obama meet with Chris Crane, Ken Palinkas, and Chris Cabrera (of ICE, USCIS, and Border Patrol).
Sen. Sessions said, “Instead of ordering them not to do their jobs, sit down with them ask what they need to end the lawlessness and restore integrity to our nation’s immigration system.”
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions is a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.
