Obama Administration’s Intimidation Strategy



In its ceaseless effort to prevent the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, the Obama administration appears to have adopted the Warren Zevon strategy: “Send lawyers, guns and money.” Okay, they have not yet resorted to guns, but no amount of lawyers and money are being spared in the administration’s war against states that attempt to enforce immigration laws on their own.

This week, the administration’s political strike force, a.k.a., the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) committed still more lawyers and taxpayer money to pursue their political goals. On Halloween, the Justice Department filed suit against South Carolina to prevent that state from implementing an immigration enforcement law passed by the legislature and signed by the governor – their trick, our treat. For those keeping score, South Carolina becomes the third state sued for trying to enforce the law. Zero states have been sued for obstructing federal immigration law.

The South Carolina law is modeled closely on the Alabama law that DOJ attempted, but failed, to quash. Just two weeks earlier, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied DOJ’s request to enjoin the Alabama law (save for two provisions). Thus, the obvious goal in suing South Carolina has less to do with testing the constitutionality of the law than in punishing the state by forcing it to spend money to defend the law and further intimidate other states that are thinking about passing their own immigration enforcement laws.

DOJ followed-up on Tuesday with nuisance “request” addressed to school districts across Alabama. In a letter signed by Thomas Perez, who heads up DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, the department sought copious data about student enrollment and withdrawals of Latino students across the state, to be updated monthly. Perez, for the record, is the former director of CASA de Maryland, one of the most strident illegal alien advocacy groups in the nation. The clear purpose of the “request” is to tie up school district resources on pointless paperwork (instead of educating kids).

The Alabama law (like the partially implemented law in Arizona) works. Illegal aliens are leaving on their own. That’s why, from the administration’s perspective, these laws must be stopped. The ATF sent the guns to drug lords in Mexico, but apparently the administration has still got plenty of lawyers and money.

About Author

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Ira joined the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in 1986 with experience as a journalist, professor of journalism, special assistant to Gov. Richard Lamm (Colorado), and press secretary of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. His columns have appeared in National Review, LA Times, NY Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, and more. He is an experienced TV and radio commentator.

4 Comments

  1. avatar

    OBAMA HAS TWO STRATEGIES. AMNESTY OR CONTINUED NON-ENFORCEMENT!

    OBAMA’S BIT BY BIT AMNESTY – AND FLIP-OFF OF THE WILL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHO DO NOT WANT OPEN BORDERS AND NO LEGAL NEED APPLY!
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    http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/11/obamas-terrorism-backdoor-amnesty.html
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    DEPT. HOMELAND SECURITY = PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP
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    Different official estimates indicated that three to ten thousand illegal aliens cross the Southern border of the United States each night, transported in with drugs by cartels that have over 135,000 gang members in their smuggling operations according to the Pentagon. More than 1200 people have been murdered by these same cartels in Mexico this year.
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    WIKILEAKS EXPOSES OBAMA’S AGENDA OF OPEN BORDERS WITH NARCOMEX

    http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-exposed-obamas-la-raza-open.html
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    OBAMA’S LA RAZA SUPREMACY:
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    Feds moving to dismiss some deportation cases
    Critics assail the plan as a bid to create a kind of backdoor ‘amnesty’
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    By SUSAN CARROLL
    Copyright 2010, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
    Aug. 24, 2010, 9:00PM
    The Department of Homeland Security is systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal immigrants who have no serious criminal records, according to several sources familiar with the efforts.
    Culling the immigration court system dockets of noncriminals started in earnest in Houston about a month ago and has stunned local immigration attorneys, who have reported coming to court anticipating clients’ deportations only to learn that the government was dismissing their cases.

    • avatar

      no emails please. ALl of the above, this is why he is trying to change the way we vote, he wants to pass no photo ID is required this way he will have all of the Illegals votes. I sure hope none of this is passed and if it is “We the people need to fight it. How dare he insult everyone of our intelligeance. He also needs to be locked up for not handing over anything that has to so with Solyndra he was served a subpoena and refused to obide by it, If anyone else did that we would be put i n handcuffs and put in jail. I sure hope they do something before he destroys our Country