Since President Obama announced his executive order in November of last year deferring deportations for certain groups of undocumented immigrants now in the country and allowing them to apply for temporary work permits, the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives has not been bashful about expressing its views on the move. Calling it an illegal overreach by the executive branch of government, various members of the majority caucus in that legislative body have promoted various responses to stop the President or make him reconsider his unilateral action.
In December some Republican House members, as well as Senators such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz floated ideas that the government should be shutdown. Instead both houses of Congress joined with the President in passing an omnibus budget for the nation without any measures which could turn back the President’s order. However, the budget only appropriated funds for the Homeland Security Department which has oversight over the immigration authorities which deport individuals and issues visas and green cards for a period of two months. By doing so, Republicans in the House seek to withhold funding for the large department unless the President’s initiatives are rolled back.
This past week the House did pass legislation which predicated its annual funding of the giant department upon reversal of the President’s order. For a few reasons, this legislation is unlikely to become law. First, the Obama administration has promised he would veto it. Second, the new Republican majority in the Senate has only 54 members which are not enough to overcome a filibuster by Democratic senators. Third, in the wake of terrorist attacks in other parts of the world, particularly in Paris, it is difficult to imagine that House members or Senators would refuse to fund the department tasked with protecting our homeland from terrorist attack.
So while House and some Senate Republicans relentlessly bash the President for his recent actions concerning enforcement of federal immigration law, it appears unlikely they will have either the ability or willingness to thwart the initiatives in Congress.
The Shulman Law Group endeavors to ensure its clients be kept abreast of all significant developments relating to the process of immigration to the United States particularly where special programs are created for immigrants from particular countries. Edward Shulman, Esq, founder of The Shulman Law Group, LLC is a national speaker for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). AILA is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, and to advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice. In the course of Mr. Shulman’s involvement with AILA, he has been dedicated to educating other immigration attorneys about the import of helping intending immigrants to navigate a new cultural system. He meticulously follows all of the developments occurring in the battle over immigration reform so that he will be prepared to effectively assist his clients obtain either citizenship or residency if a new system is enacted.