Federal court injunction against Obama amnesty gives more reason for Senate to debate DHS funding bill

The fact that the judicial branch has joined the House of Representatives and a majority of states in questioning the constitutionality of the President’s executive actions on immigration should make it obvious that the Senate needs to proceed to a debate on the Department of Homeland Security funding bill and add its voice to this critical constitutional question.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanan of Texas is a most welcome sign for Americans unable to find a job. Without the temporary injunction against issuing work permits to illegal aliens, the federal government would have begun in March to force Americans to start competing with millions of illegal foreign workers for new jobs as they opened up.

But the ruling is only temporary and only a first step in what will be an unpredictable appeals process in which the full weight of the federal government (through its Department of Justice) will fight to ensure that foreign citizens who have overstayed their visas or crossed borders illegally get the documents to obtain taxpayer-supported benefits and jobs.

The courts are being asked to overturn the Obama amnesties on the basis of their being at odds with the will of Congress which is given authority over immigration by the Constitution.

This makes it all the more important for Congress to speak clearly on its will. The DHS funding bill passed by the U.S. House does that by barring any spending on issuing documents to masses of illegal aliens.

But Republican Sen. Heller of Nevada and all Senate Democrats have for weeks conducted a filibuster, refusing to allow the House-passed DHS funding bill to come to the Senate floor for debate.

Several of the filibuster Senators during the fall campaigns stated their dissatisfaction with the very aspects of Obama’s executive immigration actions that Judge Hanan criticized. Now we will see if the Senate will stand up for protecting the authority given it by the Constitution or if Sen. Heller and the Democrats will refuse to defend the Senate and leave it to the courts to decide.

Here is my statement issued to the news media this morning:

Struggling American families can find hope in the judge’s ruling which at least temporarily halts the issuance of work permits in March that would have begun allowing millions of illegal foreign workers to compete directly with American workers for new job openings.

“The Senate now needs to pass the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that would fully halt those work permits. The fact that the judicial branch has joined the House of Representatives and a majority of states in questioning the constitutionality of the President’s executive actions on immigration should make it obvious that the Senate needs to proceed to a debate on the DHS funding bill and add its voice to this critical constitutional question.” – Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA