On Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) warned that politicians in five years will be clamoring to give citizenship to all of the illegal immigrant children who are currently flooding across the border.
“We can all expect five or ten years from now… politicians in this very body will probably be saying these illegal immigrants ‘came here through no fault of their own’ and are entitled to citizenship,” Sessions said on the Senate floor.
He also blasted the Obama administration’s rhetoric and actions before and during the border crisis for incentivizing more illegal immigration. Sessions noted that President Barack Obama unilaterally reauthorized the temporary amnesty program, provided more lawyers to illegal immigrant children, and even honored recipients of temporary amnesty at the White House. Sessions said Obama’s “unilateral action” on the Deferred Action program set “a precedent that those who come to America at a certain age will receive special exemptions from the law.”
“Is this the policy of a great nation?” Sessions asked. “It’s a policy of a nation that believes [in and] advocates for open borders. But it’s not a policy that is compatible with a system of law, duty, and order.”
Noting that fewer people break laws that are actually enforced, Sessions said, “We’ve passed laws that say you can’t come to America without permission. It’s unlawful to just walk across the border because you’d like to come. That’s not acceptable in a lawful country.”
Sessions said the immigration system is “unraveling before our eyes” and “Washington is failing in the most dramatic way.” He called on politicians to “restore order and restore our borders.”
In a statement that was a central part of the House GOP leadership’s “immigration principles,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who was recently ousted for his support of amnesty, said that one of the “founding principles” of the country required that illegal immigrants be given citizenship so they are not penalized for the mistakes of their parents. As Breitbart News has reported, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) National Council President Kenneth Palinkas said that if that was indeed one of the country’s “great founding principles,” it would mean the the United States would have to grant perpetual amnesty to the children of illegal immigrants. That, he said, would only encourage more illegal immigrants to come to America.
Illegal immigrant children have indeed been traveling to the United States believing they will receive “permisos” that will allow them to remain indefinitely in the country. Sessions noted that even high-risk illegal immigrants who are already in the country are not being deported after they mention the “Deferred Action” program. He simply said of the White House’s policy of non-enforcement, “and the chaos continues.”
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has said at least 350 illegal immigrant children are crossing the border a day, and the federal government estimated that at least 52,000 unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors have crossed the border since October of last year. Federal officials have estimated that another 150,000 more illegal immigrant children may try to cross the border next year.
Ultimately, Sessions said it would be more humane if the Obama administration would more forcefully let families in Central America know that illegal immigrant kids will not be granted amnesty and citizenship – and would back those statements up with consistent actions – to deter them from attempting what could be a deadly journey to America.
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