Babeu blasts immigration policy implementation
Aug 15, 2012, 6:24 AM | Updated: 3:40 pm
PHOENIX — Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said thousands of illegal immigrants should not be allowed to stay in the United States until the border is secured.
In mid-June, President Barack Obama announced that certain young illegal immigrants could avoid deportation, under certain conditions, after the DREAM Act repeatedly failed to pass Congress.
Up to 50,000 young illegal immigrants in Arizona are expected to start filing their applications on Wednesday to stay in the United States under the program.
“This is the United States of America,” said Babeu. “We’re a republic, not a kingdom. You don’t just wave your royal hand and change the law without Congress.”
Babeu said that’s exactly what the president did and the decision wasn’t fair to millions of others in foreign countries waiting to become American citizens who have followed the rules and spent thousands of dollars.
“And then we put these [young immigrants in U.S.] to the front of the line and reward them for breaking the law and not following our process,” said Babeu.
When Obama made the announcement earlier this summer, Babeu said it was nothing more than de facto amnesty, adding that he believes the president’s ultimate goal, if re-elected, is outright amnesty for more than 10 million other illegal immigrants in the country.
