In a letter sent to President Obama today and shared exclusively with Yellowhammer News, Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers (R-Saks) blasted the Administration’s immigration policies, which Rogers says have led to a flood of unaccompanied children being sent across the border.
“Because of your Administration’s years-long, deliberate failure to enforce our immigration laws, our nation now faces a crisis at our Southwest border that threatens our sovereignty and adherence to the rule of law,” Rogers wrote. “According to Department of Homeland Security estimates, over 60,000 children will cross our border this year, and over 127,000 children will cross in 2015. Desperate families in poverty-stricken countries in search of a better life are putting their children in physical danger in order to cross our border. The surge of unaccompanied children at the border is a direct result of the decision to circumvent Congress and implement the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. The administrative decision to grant special status to children brought here illegally by their parents encourages and rewards the deliberate breaking of U.S. law and is tantamount to administrative amnesty.”
In an effort to lock down the border in areas that are particularly susceptible to illegal crossings, Rogers urged the president to utilize National Guard troops.
“I strongly urge you to heed the call of Congress and utilize additional National Guard units in the hardest hit areas to allow the Border Patrol to focus on enforcing current immigration laws,” Rogers wrote. “It is within your power and the law to stem the tide of illegal immigration and work with home nations in order to return these children to their families as quickly as possible.”
A full copy of the letter can be found below.
Do you think more National Guard troops should be sent to the border to assist immigration enforcement officials? Let us know in the comment section below or by tweeting @YHPolitics.
Dear Mr. President:
Our great nation has been and always will be a beacon of hope and freedom for the world. However, because of your Administration’s years-long, deliberate failure to enforce our immigration laws, our nation now faces a crisis at our Southwest border that threatens our sovereignty and adherence to the rule of law.
According to the Department of Homeland Security estimates, over 60,000 children will cross our border this year, and over 127,000 children will cross in 2015. Desperate families in poverty-stricken countries in search of a better life are putting their children in physical danger in order to cross our border. The surge of unaccompanied children at the border is a direct result of the decision to circumvent Congress and implement the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. The administrative decision to grant special status to children brought here illegally by their parents encourages and rewards the deliberate breaking of U.S. law and is tantamount to administrative amnesty.
Unfortunately, this continues a pattern of decisions dating back to the infamous Morton Memos issued in 2011 that drastically limited the enforcement of immigration laws across the country. The use of bogus deportation numbers that do not reflect reality cannot hide the fact that the number of illegal immigrants is increasing under your Administration’s watch. Not only does this threaten our sovereignty as a nation by demonstrating we have no operational control over our borders, it broadly projects an image of a weak America with respect to the rule of law.
I strongly urge you to heed the call of Congress and utilize additional National Guard units in the hardest hit areas to allow the Border Patrol to focus on enforcing current immigration laws. It is within your power and the law to stem the tide of illegal immigration and work with home nations in order to return these children to their families as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Mike D. Rogers
Member of Congress
Alabama’s 3rd District
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