{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141125185651/http://barletta.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/barletta-statement-on-president-obama-s-expected-amnesty-action", "Barletta Statement on President Obamas Expected Amnesty Action", "2014-11-19", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "PA", "Lou Barletta", "B001269", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, today issued the following statement regarding President Obama\u2019s expected announcement of executive action to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants already present in this country:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cWe have just come through a national election in which the president\u2019s policies, including his plans for amnesty for illegal immigrants, were soundly rejected by the American people.\u00a0 Incredibly, his response is to ignore the clear will of the people and their elected representatives and forge ahead with his own agenda.\u00a0 Worse, the president himself has repeatedly asserted in public that he does not possess the power to do what he proposes to do now.\n\u201cWe are a nation, founded on the rule of law, which was never meant to be governed by the wishes or whims of one person.\u00a0 If the president had wanted this outcome so badly, he could have sailed it through Congress when his party had complete control of the federal government during his first two years in office.\u00a0 In the years since, the executive actions the president intends to take have been directly and expressly rejected by Congress in many votes on immigration issues.\u00a0 In circumventing Congress to achieve his own short-sighted ends, President Obama will do grave damage to the Constitutional separation of powers and set a dangerous precedent for future executives of either political party.\n\u201cWe have immigration laws for two basic reasons: to preserve national security and to protect American jobs.\u00a0 The actions the president is contemplating violate both of those principles.\u00a0 It will be impossible for the government to conduct background checks on millions of newly legalized residents, meaning adequate security screenings will never take place.\u00a0 Additionally, by handing out work permits to illegal immigrants, there will be irreparable harm done to millions of unemployed Americans who \u2013 just before the holidays \u2013 will suddenly find a flood of competition for jobs that are scarce already.\u00a0 Further, such widespread granting of amnesty will only make the problem worse as many more will be drawn to this country in the belief they can break our immigration laws with impunity.\n\u201cI reiterate my call for using the appropriations process to block funding for identification cards for illegal immigrants who are granted amnesty, while continuing to fund other functions of government.\u00a0 I am also now exploring legislative remedies to prevent the president from acting without Congressional authority.\u00a0 I regret that we must explore such measures to ensure that our president obeys the Constitution, but he has left us little choice.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141125185651/http://barletta.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/barletta-statement-on-president-obama-s-expected-amnesty-action"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9348639287054539, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}