CAPAC Chair on Republican Bills That Hurt Immigrant Communities
Washington, D.C. – Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3973, Faithful Execution of the Law Act – the second of two bills that negatively impacts immigrant communities. This comes just one day after the passage of H.R. 4138, ENFORCE the Law Act of 2014. Both bills seek to strip President Barack Obama of his executive authority and enable the U.S. Congress to sue the President and other federal officials for the use of prosecutorial discretion. Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), issued the following statement:
“Time and time again, House Republicans have claimed support for fixing our broken immigration system. Their strategy to restrict the President’s constitutional authority of prosecutorial discretion, however, only hurts immigrant communities.
“Deferring deportations of DREAMers – young adults who are undocumented through no fault of their own – is squarely within the President’s authority under the Constitution’s “take care” clause. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is legally sound, makes common sense, and is overwhelmingly popular amongst the American people. Yet, the ENFORCE Act and the Faithful Execution of the Law Act will largely undermine this program.
“It’s been five months since a bipartisan solution to our broken immigration system, H.R. 15, was introduced. Yet, House Republicans continue to stonewall reform with bills like these. The GOP can no longer just say they support Latinos, Asians and other immigrant communities. They need to act on comprehensive immigration reform now.”
Background:
The House Republicans explicitly cite the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as one reason for the legislation. The House debated and passed the ENFORCE the Law Act by a vote of 233-181 on Wednesday and the Faithful Execution of the Law Act by a vote of 244-171 on Thursday.
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The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) is comprised of Members of Congress of Asian and Pacific Islander descent and Members who have a strong dedication to promoting the well-being of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Currently chaired by Congresswoman Judy Chu, CAPAC has been addressing the needs of the AAPI community in all areas of American life since it was founded in 1994.