Sessions: Congress must stop Obama’s ‘amnesty’ orders

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said Congress should include language banning President Obama from issuing executive orders on immigration to any bill dealing with the influx of child immigrants.

The Senate is considering an emergency spending bill from Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) that would provide $2.7 billion to provide legal services and temporarily house and feed thousands of child immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala being detained at the U.S.-Mexico border.

{mosads}The House is voting on its own bill that would provide $659 million and amend a 2008 human trafficking law to make it harder for the children to qualify for refugee status. It’s unlikely both chambers will come together on a plan before leaving for the August recess at the end of the week.

Sessions said Congress shouldn’t pass any bill that doesn’t include limitations on Obama’s executive orders. 

“It’s not the kind of crisis where we have to rush out and pass a bill tonight,” Sessions said on the Senate floor Thursday. “We can’t just throw money at this problem which is what this legislation does.”

Obama has already issued an executive order deferring the deportation of “dreamers” — children brought illegally to the United States by their parents before 2007. 

Sessions blamed Obama’s “lawless” immigration policies for the increase in immigrant children. He also cited reports that Obama is considering deferring the deportation of nearly 5 million immigrants who are parents to U.S. children. Sessions said Congress needed to pass legislation that prohibits Obama from making that executive order.

“We must prevent the president’s massive amnesty from going forward,” Sessions said. “That is why have said that Congress, as an institution, must not support any border package that does not expressly prohibit the President’s executive amnesty and block funds for its implementation. How can we not take this position?”