Next Steps on Immigration for Conservatives

Following Tuesday’s election and the dramatic shakeup that handed control of both chambers of Congress to the Republicans, the question for conservatives is: What are the next steps for immigration reform? President Obama, seemingly unfazed by the election results, reiterated his intention to act on immigration via executive action, likely by the end of this year.

Few people know exactly what this executive action will look like, but it is universally believed to include some sort of administrative amnesty for as many as four million to six million unlawful immigrants. Not only would such an action shred the rule of law and ignore the President’s duty to faithfully enforce U.S. laws, it would not solve the problem—in fact, it would likely make it worse.

If the President is willing to ignore the law and grant administrative amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, then those thinking of entering and staying in the U.S. illegally are encouraged to believe that maybe the U.S. won’t enforce the law against them either. Congress should condemn this harmful policy, limiting funds and passing a Sense of Congress that President Obama’s actions can and should be reversed in the future.

There are a variety of policies that President Obama could undertake instead of administrative amnesty if he really wanted to fix our immigration system. Heritage recently published a Special Report that explains these policies in a detailed, 10-step checklist. Given President Obama’s statements about doing things his own way on immigration, however, it is unlikely that he will take any of these recommendations seriously.

This means that Congress will be pressured to just do something on immigration. Such an approach is likely just code for amnesty, the same harmful policy as the President’s executive action, except bigger, more costly, and permanent. Congress should instead do all it can to ensure that President Obama fulfills his responsibilities outlined in the checklist above, primarily by using its power of the purse—as the probable Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already promised to do.

Only when President Obama, or a future President, makes good on these responsibilities should Congress consider pieces of legislation to further improve border security, enhance the enforcement of immigration laws, and reform our legal immigration system in a way that supports the U.S. economy. Taking up legislation before the executive branch upholds its end is wishful thinking at best. After all, if the President won’t faithfully execute existing laws, why would he execute any additional laws?

Conservatives should also keep in mind that the American people, including Hispanics, care about more than just amnesty for illegal immigrants. They care about pro-growth economic reforms, school choice, keeping the U.S. secure from threats, and health care reform that puts the patient in charge rather than the government. These are all issues where conservatives have the best ideas—and now is the time to show it.