General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Obama is BOUND BY LAW to prosecute torture. [View all]JonLP24
(29,322 posts)begins with beefing up the deportation side of things.
They don't have the manpower and resources to deport everyone so they he is prioritizing enforcement based on common sense & fairness.
Then there is this...
136 Law Professors Say President Has Legal Authority to Act on Immigration
After immigration reform stalled in the House, President Obama announced that he plans to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress. A chorus of legal experts and columnists agreed that hed be on solid ground if he did. The President has discussed deferring deportations for up to 5 million immigrants, starting with families, whose lives hang in the balance.
Today, 136 law professors from across the United States joined the debate with a clear statement of support for the Presidents ability to take action. Their letter states clearly that the administration has the legal authority to use prosecutorial discretion as a tool for managing resources and protecting individuals residing in and contributing to the United States in meaningful ways. Prosecutorial discretion is grounded in the Constitution, and has been part of the immigration system for many years.
Moreover, as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has shown, these kinds of procedures help officers to implement policy decisions fairly and consistently, and they offer the public the transparency that government priority decisions require in a democracy. Indeed, Stephen Legomsky, former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services chief counsel who is a Washington University School of Law professor, said, As part of the administrations legal team that ironed out the details of DACA, I can personally attest that we took pains to make sure the program meticulously satisfied every conceivable legal requirement. In this letter, 136 law professors who specialize in immigration reach the same conclusion.
The letter was drafted by experts in prosecutorial discretionLegomsky, Hiroshi Motomura of UCLA Law School, and Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia of Penn State University School of Law. And the signing professors, from 32 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, represent a wide-cross section of America. There are signers from Texas and Florida to North Carolina, Arizona, and Missouri, among other states. Every Ivy League law school is represented, as well as state schools and faith-based institutions. The letter reflects a clear, broad, and informed consensus, said Motomura.
- See more at: http://immigrationimpact.com/2014/09/03/136-law-professors-say-president-has-legal-authority-to-act-on-immigration/#sthash.gSdqR5y1.dpuf
OK - I think we can all agree on prosecutorial discretion but is the any part of federal immigration law that was very similar language to torture law - like can someone prosecute the state for violation of subsection 1?
OK - I came across this which brings up the international law angle
Prosecution within the U.S. law tends to be of discretionary action, Huneeus said. Under international law there is less discretion. I don't think you can say we're not going to prosecute these crimes under international law.
http://www.channel3000.com/news/UW-law-professor-Prosecuting-CIA-torture-suspects-must-be-priority/30190080
I jumped at you but searches backed you up but the circumstances and justifications are different, especially from the perspective of justice.