House Homeland Sec. Chair: Exec Amnesty Will Create ‘Another Wave’ of Illegal Immigration

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee believes that President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty will be a “powerful magnet” that will create another wave of illegal immigration.

At a Tuesday hearing on “Open Borders: The Impact of Presidential Amnesty on Border Security” in which Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson defended Obama’s executive amnesty, Chairman Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) said Obama’s executive actions will have “grave consequences” and “undermine the Constitution and threaten our democracy.”

McCaul mentioned that even Obama predicted in the past that such actions would create a surge in more illegal immigration. 

“He was right and it will,” McCaul said of Obama’s previous comments and recent executive amnesty. “We will see a wave of illegal immigration because of the president’s actions.”

McCaul said that “amnesty perpetuates the cycle of illegal entry” and the Obama administration’s lax immigration enforcement and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program already “enticed” as many as 60,000 unaccompanied minors to the U.S.-Mexico border this year. He noted that many illegal immigrants made the harrowing journey with the belief that they would get a “permiso” to be allowed to remain in the United States.

McCaul noted that the Obama administration’s broad use of prosecutorial discretion to not deport most illegal immigrants “makes a mockery of the law” and is sending a message to people across the world that, “if you come here, you can stay. Don’t worry, we won’t deport you.”

He said the reality on the ground is that there is an “almost zero” chance that illegal immigrants will be removed unless they have committed multiple crimes. 

McCaul added that Americans are “fooling ourselves” if they do not think the message of lax immigration enforcement is going back to Mexico and Central America.