BALTIMORE – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism and Intolerance, issued the following statement on President Trump’s latest attempts to bypass the law when it comes to immigration policy.

“The President should stop trying to demonize refugees and immigrants fleeing persecution and violence in their home countries.  Congress, not the President, has the authority to enact a ‘uniform rule of naturalization’ under our Constitution. The President is not above the law. He cannot rule by fiat.

“Today’s proclamation by the President and proposed regulation by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security violates both the asylum laws enacted by Congress, as well as our international obligations. President Trump’s promotion of xenophobia should be immediately withdrawn and, if not, aggressively challenged by Congress and the courts. 

“We are better than this as a nation. American has welcomed refugees and those fleeing persecution since its founding. The President should abandon his attempts to circumvent the rule of law and finally sit down with Congress to make bipartisan reforms needed to fix our broken immigration system, including providing immediate protection for Dreamers and TPS recipients.”

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