Karen Depenyou

P4
Executive Powers Essay
For the past 30 years the United States has experienced an extreme influx of illegal
immigration and our government has tried its hardest to manage this problem. For the past few
years however, the US has seen an increase of illegal immigration; it went from 8.4 million in
2000 to 11.2 million in 2009 according to the department of Homeland Security. The US
Congress has not done enough work to effectively fix this problem and so using inherent powers
with the protection of the US Constitution, President Obama put in place the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrival (DACA). DACA is very simple and it is not a form of amnesty. DACA simply
prioritizes who needs to be deported, so that they are dealing with violent criminal offenders
before they get to young children and their families. Obamas Executive order was constitutional
for various reasons. To begin, although immigration is a federal power, the US constitution does
not give Congress full power over it. Second of all, Obamas action was an overreach of power
because in the Supreme Court case Arizona v US the court ruled that the Executive branch has
discretion over when and how to prosecute immigration cases. And thirdly, Obama connected
this executive order to immigration laws already in place.
To begin it has been argued that Congress constitutionally has full authority when it
comes to immigration and that Obamas order was an overreach. An article by Daniel Fisher of
Forbes magazine as well the Constitution, argues otherwise. Immigration is barely mentioned in
the constitution. In Article 1 Section 8 they allude to it, writing, Congress has the power to
Establish a uniform rule of naturalization. This means that Congress has a say in who and how
people come into this country, and whether or not they can become citizens. In his article for
Forbes, Daniel Fisher writes, the Supreme Court has interpreted immigration law in the absence

of any mention of immigration or deportation in the Constitution. Their conclusion is that the
President has broad powers to kick people out but little control over who gets in. With DACA
the president is not deciding who gets to enter the country and who doesnt; and so he is not
taking Congresss power on immigration away. According to the US constitution, Congress gets
to decide who and how many people will enter our country. It also gets to decide how people will
become citizens, DACA doesnt do any of those things. In Federalist No. 70 Alexander Hamilton
wrote, Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government
(Doc D). This means that we need to have a strong and competent president that will make clear
decisions to improve the condition of our country and our government. The huge immigration
problem that we face today is not good for our country; and so Obama, fulfilling his promise to
be a strong leader, took an action to restore our country. Congress has repeatedly refused to use
their grand but limited power on immigration to fix this crisis. They never passed the Dream Act,
they killed the bill proposed by the bipartisan gang of eight, and yet they get mad when the
President takes an action to fix this problem.
On April of 2010, very conservative Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed into law SB
1070. This law made it a state crime for undocumented immigrants to be in Arizona without
registration document required by federal law. This law also authorized state and local law
enforcement of federal immigration law and crack down on anyone sheltering, hiring , and
transporting undocumented immigrants. Soon after this bill was passed in Arizona the Obama
administration sued, and on December 12, 2011, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to hear the
case. In support of the Obama administration, the Supreme Court struck three provisions in this
bill. These provisions had made it illegal for undocumented immigrants to seek employment and
legal for law enforcement to do warrantless arrest of people they suspected where

undocumented. The Supreme Court also ruled that the executive branch can exercise
Prosecutorial Discretion Consistent with the Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities. Article
2, Section 2 of the constitution is consistent with this ruling; stating that the president, Shall
have the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States ( Doc A).
Illegal immigration is a crime against the United States and as clearly stated in the constitution,
the president has the power when it comes to prosecuting these offenses. According to US
Citizens and Immigration Services, DACA is an executive action that allows certain
undocumented immigrants who entered the country before their 16th birthday and before June
2007 to receive a renewable two-year work permit and exemption from deportation. What this
bill does is that it tells the Obama administration who their top priority should be when it comes
to deporting illegal immigrants; It should not be young hard working people, but instead it
should be people with a criminal history. Obama took this action well within his constitutional
rights.
In the aftermath of Katrina, President Bush issued an executive order that granted relief
to foreign students who no longer met their Visa requirements after their campuses were
destroyed. In 1991 H.W Bush gave a reprieve to over 2000 immigrants evacuated from Kuwait
after its invasion. In 1986 Reagan issued an executive order that gave legal status to 3 million
undocumented immigrants. Ever since illegal immigration became a huge problem in our
country, presidents have turned to executive orders to try and fix this problem. In their PolitiFact
article, Louis Jacobson and Nancy Madsen wrote that in a news release, Senator Tim Kaine of
Virginia stated, Every president since Eisenhower has taken executive action to address
immigration issues. President Obama did a similar thing and he made sure to that his executive
order already had precedents in place and was connected to current laws. This is very important

because an executive order cannot be issued unless it is connected to an existing law. In DACAs
case there have been various immigration policies issued in the past. Some of these include
Clintons 1997 Haitian refugee protection and Fords 1975 act that evacuated Vietnamese with
America ties to the US. So as you can see there are already various place as far as immigration
goes and as required, Obama made sure to connect DACA to a current law in place.
It is important to note that DACA is not a form of amnesty. It will not grant any green
cards to illegal immigrants. This executive order will simply let the president know who his top
priority should be in deporting illegal immigrants. This order will also give a two year workers
permit to undocumented immigrants so that they can find adequate work.This action is
constitutional because the US constitution does not give Congress full power over immigration,
in the supreme court case Arizona v US the court ruled that the Executive branch has discretion
over when and how to prosecute immigration cases, and There are precedents and current laws in
place that Obama used to justify his actions.

Bibliography
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Jacobson,

Louis, and Nancy Madsen. "Kaine Says All Presidents since Eisenhower

Have Taken Executive Action on Immigration." Politifact. N.p., n.d. Web. 15

Mar. 2016.
Somin, Ilya. "Why Obama's Immigration Policy Is Constitutional." Reason.com.
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.
Hansen, Matt. "Obama's Potential Executive Order One of Many on Immigration."
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Fisher, Daniel. "The President Has as Much Immigration Authority as Congress
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down." U.S.News. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2016
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