Speech #1130113274

Americans are compassionate and they are generous. The American people have always extended and always will extend a helping hand to every other corner of the world. And even as the number of illegal border crossings has exploded over the past year. we have treated these individuals with dignity and respect. Today we have on our southern border a multifaceted crisis that faces the entire country. But President Obama is not interested in solving the humanitarian problem or the security problem or the legal problem or the fiscal problem. He is interested only in solving a personal political problemavoiding blame for this crisis which he himself has created. For years the Presidents clear message to the world has been that he is not interested in enforcing or fixing Americas immigration laws. He is unconcerned about strengthening our border. improving our entryexit system or bolstering the workplace verification. He has made no effort to fix our visa system so that we have an efficient process to serve immigrants trying in good faith to obey the law. He has ignored serious immigration reforms that would solve these problems. So what has the President been doing on immigration? Systematically undermining the rule of law by ignoring the laws that are already on the books. taking action he has no authority to take. and blaming others for the consequent failures. That is what has led us here today. considering what hypothetical actions Congress can take to address the real crisis the President has created. But the solutions to this immediate crisis and our longer term immigration needs as well begin with the President finally enforcing the law. There is no amount of money that Congress can spend. There is no new law that can solve this crisis if the President and the leadership of his party continue down their current path. There are several steps the President can take immediately that do not require any action by Congress or another dime from the American people. He can stop abusing what he refers to as "prosecutorial discretion." He can end the DACA program. which provides administrative amnesty and work permits to those who enter the United States illegally as minors. He can close the door to any further expansion of DACA to millions of additional adults. And he can signal his commitment to this solution by quickly returning those who entered the United States illegally to their home countries. But by announcing to the worldthe entire worldthat he will not enforce laws requiring DHS to process and return those who come here unlawfully. the President is encouraging hundreds of thousands of children and adults to make this very dangerous journey to come to the United States illegally. He is encouraging families to pay coyotes controlled by drug cartels thousands of dollars to smuggle their children into the United States. That is truly the humanitarian crisis. The Presidents threats to widen the scope of DACA are only going to make this crisis worse. That is why I agree with my friends TED CRUZ. JEFF SESSIONS.