The House Judiciary Committee has announced a hearing on Tuesday that will examine “President Obama’s executive overreach on immigration.”
The hearing will be the first attempt by the GOP to take aim at Obama’s executive action. Obama announced on Nov. 20 he would no longer deport certain illegal immigrants, who will now be eligible for work permits and Social Security cards.
Obama’s move has inflamed the party’s conservative base and put pressure on Republican leaders to use the upcoming government spending bill to block the deportation move. Obama said he was forced to take action after Republicans refused to consider comprehensive immigration reform legislation that coupled border security with an increase in immigration and a pathway to citizenship for those now living here illegally.
The Judiciary Committee, run by Republicans, has summoned four legal scholars to testify about Obama’s executive action.
The witness list includes conservative lawyer Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, and Thomas Dupree, a former deputy assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush. Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, is also slated to appear.
The Judiciary Committee’s chairman is Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., a conservative who has promoted a piecemeal approach to reforming immigration laws that would begin with strengthening border security.
“The President’s decision to recklessly forge ahead with a plan to change our immigration laws on his own ignores the will of the American people and flouts the Constitution,” Goodlatte said in a statement. “These actions create an untold number of consequences; most significantly, they tilt the separation of powers in the President’s favor and imperil individual liberty.”
