II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3015 

To establish a rule of construction clarifying the limitations on executive 

authority to provide certain forms of immigration relief. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 12, 2014 

Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a rule of construction clarifying the limitations 

on executive authority to provide certain forms of immigration relief. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Executive 

5 Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds following: 

8 (1) Under article I, section 8, of the Constitu9 tion, Congress has the power to ‘‘establish an uni10 form Rule of Naturalization’’. As the Supreme Court 


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1 held in Galvan v. Press, ‘‘the formulation of . . . 

2 policies [pertaining to the entry of aliens and their 

3 right to remain here] is entrusted exclusively to Con4 gress has become about as firmly imbedded in the 

5 legislative and judicial tissues of our body politic as 

6 any aspect of our government’’. 

7 (2) Under article II, section 3, of the Constitu8 tion, the President is required to ‘‘take Care that 

9 the Laws be faithfully executed’’. 

10 (3) Historically, executive branch officials have 

11 legitimately exercised their prosecutorial discretion 

12 through their constitutional power over foreign af13 fairs to permit individuals or narrow groups of non14 citizens to remain in the United States temporarily 

15 due to extraordinary circumstances in their country 

16 of origin that pose an imminent threat to the indi17 viduals’ life or physical safety. 

18 (4) Prosecutorial discretion generally ought to 

19 be applied on a case-by-case basis and not to whole 

20 categories of persons. 

21 (5) President Obama has stated at least 22 

22 times in the past that he can’t ignore existing immi23 gration law or create his own immigration law. 

24 (6) President Obama’s grant of deferred action 

25 to more than 4,000,000 unlawfully present aliens, as 


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1 directed in a memorandum issued by Secretary of 

2 Homeland Security Jeh Charles Johnson on Novem3 ber 20, 2014, is without any constitutional or statu4 tory basis. 

5 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON UNILATERAL DEFERRAL OF DE6 PORTATIONS BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of law, the executive branch of the Government shall 

9 not— 

10 (1) exempt or defer, by Executive order, regula11 tion, or any other means, categories of aliens consid12 ered under the immigration laws (as defined in sec13 tion 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality 

14 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) to be unlawfully 

15 present in the United States from removal under 

16 such laws; 

17 (2) treat aliens described in paragraph (1) as if 

18 they were lawfully present or had a lawful immigra19 tion status; or 

20 (3) treat such aliens other than as unauthorized 

21 aliens (as defined in section 274A(h)(3) of the Im22 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

23 1324a(h)(3))). 

24 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall apply ex25 cept— 


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1 (1) to the extent prohibited by the Constitution; 

2 (2) upon the request of Federal, State, or local 

3 law enforcement agencies, for purposes of maintain4 ing aliens in the United States to be tried for crimes 

5 or to be witnesses at trial; or 

6 (3) for humanitarian purposes in which the 

7 aliens are at imminent risk of serious bodily harm 

8 or death. 

9 (c) EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE ACTION.—Any action by 

10 the executive branch with the purpose of circumventing 

11 the objectives of this section shall be null and void and 

12 without legal effect. 

13 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall— 

14 (1) take effect as if enacted on November 20, 

15 2014; and 

16 (2) apply to requests (regardless of whether the 

17 request is original or for reopening of a previously 

18 denied request) submitted on or after such date 

19 for— 

20 (A) work authorization; or 

21 (B) exemption from, or deferral of, re22 moval. 

Æ 


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