Feinstein Urged Obama to Use Presidential Power to Limit Immigration: 'No Legislation Necessary'

Will Racke
The Daily Caller
Nov. 10, 2018

Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein encouraged then-President Barack Obama to use the “very broad power” granted to him by Congress to limit immigration in any way he saw fit, according to a letter obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Feinstein sent the letter to Obama in July 2014, in the midst of an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration by family units and unaccompanied minors, mostly from Central America, across the southwest border.

In her note, Feinstein referred to Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which grants the president the authority to “suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”

The statute gave Obama wide latitude to issue new regulations concerning the entry and detention of migrants, Feinstein wrote, including limiting deportation appeal rights and keeping children in the custody of immigration authorities rather than transferring them to the Department of Health and Human Services.

“It therefore appears that no legislation is necessary to give your administration the tools it needs to respond to this crisis, and that any needed temporary measures can be implemented through presidential action,” Feinstein concluded.

The existence of Feinstein’s letter was first reported by Fox News late Thursday, a day before President Donald Trump issued a proclamation making most migrants caught crossing the southwest border illegally ineligible for asylum. In his proclamation, Trump invoked his authority under Section 212(f), the same provision cited by Feinstein in her letter to Obama.

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