Members of Congress Call Out DACA

Today the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), representting Rep. Steve King (IA-4th Dist.) and five other members of Congress as friends of the court, filed a brief in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas supporting Texas and other states in their lawsuit against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Because of the office they hold, these representatives have a compelling interest in the faithful execution of the laws passed by Congress. IRLI shows in its brief that the DACA program, created by President Obama in reaction to Congress' rejection of the DREAM Act, an amnesty bill for illegal aliens rejected no less than 24 times since 2001, was unauthorized by any statute, violated procedural requirements in its promulgation, and was a glaring example of forbidden executive lawmaking.

IRLI also shows in its brief that DACA flouted the Constitution's command that the President "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." As the brief puts it:

Though, at some level, any substantively or even procedurally ultra vires action represents a failure faithfully to execute the laws, U.S. CONST. art. II, §3, it requires more to violate the Take Care Clause — a failure even to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." Id. That failure, however, is amply present here. Indeed, the prior administration itself candidly acknowledged the unlawfulness of DACA numerous times before issuing DACA for political reasons when Congress did not enact the legislation that the prior administration sought. A court issuing an equitable remedy in these circumstances could find that the Executive willfully failed to take care, then tailor the remedy to account for that willfulness.

This case comes at a time when liberal courts around the country are issuing bizarre rulings claiming that DACA, supposedly a discretionary program, must go on despite the Trump administration's attempt to exercise its discretion to rescind it," commented Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "Success in this lawsuit would cut off those rulings at the knees. If DACA is unlawful, courts cannot reinstate it, and the pre-DACA status quo should be restored – no matter what these coourts may claim about Trump's rescission."

The lawsuit is being heard by Judge Andrew Hanen, the judge who blocked the very similar Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents ("DAPA") program, which would have granted amnesty to 4 million illegal aliens and included an expanded version of DACA, in 2015. Judge Hanen's ruling in the DAPA case was upheld by both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and (in a 4-4 ruling) by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The full list of congressmen IRLI represents in its brief filed today is as follows:
Rep. Steve King, Iowa 4th Congressional District
Rep. Andy Biggs, Arizona 5th Congressional District
Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas 1st Congressional District
Rep. Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S, Arizona 4th Congressional District
Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky 4th Congressional District

Rep. Ralph Norman, South Carolina 5th Congressional District

The case is State of Texas v. United States, 18-cv-00068 (S.D. Tex.).
 

For additional information, contact: Brian Lonergan • 202-2322-5590 • blonergan followed by @ irli dotorg