South Carolina Joins 16 States in Challenging President Obama’s Abuse of Power on Immigration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DECEMBER 3, 2014

AG Alan Wilson Announces South Carolina Joins 16 States in Challenging President Obama’s Unconstitutional Abuse of Power with Executive Order on Immigration

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) Attorney General Alan Wilson today announced that South Carolina has joined with 16 other states in taking legal action to challenge President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration.

The case was filed Wednesday in Federal District Court in the Southern District of Texas. The multistate coalition includes Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

“While we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation founded on the rule of law,” Wilson said. “Immigration reform is long overdue. However, immigration reform must come through responsible measures passed by the people’s representatives, not unlawful strokes of President Obama’s pen which ignore the Constitution.

“President Obama is attempting to do through executive fiat what Congress has not legislated. In doing so, he is refusing to faithfully execute the laws that were duly enacted by Congress. Instead, he is attempting to rewrite our nation’s immigration laws – which on numerous occasions he previously said he lacks the authority to do.”

The states’ legal challenges to the President’s executive action include:

• The executive action on immigration conflicts with the President’s constitutional duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” The Take Care Clause limits the scope of presidential power and ensures that the chief executive will uphold and enforce Congress’s laws – not unilaterally rewrite them under the cover of “prosecutorial discretion.”

• The DHS Directive failed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act’s required notice and comment rulemaking process before providing that legal benefits like federal work permits, Medicare, and Social Security be awarded to individuals who are openly violating immigration laws.

• The executive action to dispense with federal immigration law will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis along the southern border, which will affect increased state investment in law enforcement, health care and education.

President Obama officially took executive action on November 21, 2014, which will allow an estimated four million certain categories of illegal aliens to live and work in the United States without the risk of deportation to their countries of origin.

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View the full complaint here.