Isakson and Perdue Sign Amicus Brief in Support of the Challenge to Executive Actions on Immigration

U.S. Senators of Georgia, Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, along with 43 other senators, signed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Georgia’s challenge against President Obama’s 2014 attempt to unilaterally
grant legal status to millions of immigrants.

Isakson via news release on Tuesday:

“President Obama’s attempt to circumvent Congress by executive order and grant legal status to millions is unconstitutional and unacceptable,” said Isakson. “I have fought against this unlawful proposal from day one and will continue to use any and all options to stop the president from implementing his unconstitutional executive amnesty. If Congress must use the courts to force the president to follow the laws he has sworn to uphold, then so be it.”

Perdue was quoted on the same release:

“Over the past seven years, we have seen President Obama abuse his authority and act unilaterally to change our country’s immigration laws,” said Perdue. “It is time for this to stop. I applaud Georgia and a majority of states for coming together to stand up against President Obama’s unconstitutional executive amnesty. As we have seen, there are real national security risks associated with illegal immigration, sanctuary cities, and executive amnesty, and I promised Georgians I will fight on their behalf against this lawlessness. I will not rest until we secure our border and restore the rule of law to our country.”

Following President Obama’s executive actions on immigration in December 2014, which included halting the deportations of millions of illegal immigrants, Georgia, along with a group of states that was led by Texas, filed a lawsuit challenging the overreach. A federal judge temporarily blocked Obama’s actions, but since that time, political appointees at the Justice Department have filed an appeal to lift the injunction.

Isakson and Perdue previously supported an amicus brief filed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Georgia and 25 other states on April 17, 2015. They argued that “the president’s unilateral, deferred-action programs for unlawful immigrants are unconstitutional and are contrary to congressional intent.”

The case, United States of America vs. State of Texas, was taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a previous decision in November of 2015 to halt the Obama administration from continuing with its executive actions that violate federal law.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the lawsuit filed by Georgia and other states on April 18, 2016. You can view the amicus brief here.