GOP Senators Express 'Grave Concerns' Over Pending Immigration Review - East Idaho News
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GOP Senators Express ‘Grave Concerns’ Over Pending Immigration Review

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Getty 042414 capitol?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1398394384351iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Republican senators wrote a letter to President Obama on Thursday expressing “grave concerns” over the Department of Homeland Security’s upcoming immigration review.

In the note, they accuse Obama of “astonishing” disregard for the Constitution and say the changes under consideration “represent a near complete abandonment of basic immigration enforcement.”

“Clearly, the urgent task facing your administration is to improve immigration enforcement, not to look for new ways to weaken it,” the letter reads.

The 22 senators go on to say that the Obama administration issued policy directives “incrementally nullifying” immigration enforcement in the U.S, “to the point that unless individuals in the country illegally are apprehended, tried, and convicted for a felony or other serious offense, they are free to live and work in the country.”

The three-page letter included signatures from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top GOP senator on the Judiciary Committee.

The president ordered a review of deportation policy after criticisms from immigration activists. Some Democrats and supporters argue deportations from the administration are tearing families apart, while others feel current policies allow the occurrences of preventable crimes.

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