Immigration: Obama’s executive actions could undermine elections in Ohio

Oct. 25, 2012: Voters cast their votes through absentee ballots for the Nov. 6th election at the town hall in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. (AP)

One of the best parts of a Congressman’s job is the opportunity to participate in a naturalization ceremony.  I have had the honor of participating in several such events in Ohio, and I have seen the amount of time, effort and energy that goes into becoming a citizen.

I also know that there is nothing like seeing the smile on people’s faces the moment they realize that they’ve done it – that they have just become a citizen of the greatest country in history.

This is what frustrates Americans the most: Our president is bending over backwards to divert resources from those trying to come here legally, and instead unconstitutionally giving taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants without congressional approval.

People from every country on earth want to come to America.  Some want to learn.  Some want to work.  But everyone wants to better their lives, and you cannot blame anyone for their willingness to struggle, sacrifice and risk everything to come to the land of opportunity.  After all, that’s the American story!

This is what frustrates Americans the most: Our president is bending over backwards to divert resources from those trying to come here legally, and instead unconstitutionally giving taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants without congressional approval.

A deep respect for these time-tested values is woven into the fabric of America, and that, I believe, is at the heart of what frustrates so many Americans about the President’s executive actions in regards to illegal immigration.

This is what frustrates Americans the most: Our president is bending over backwards to divert resources from those trying to come here legally, and instead unconstitutionally giving taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants without congressional approval.

But that’s just the start. As with many of the president’s actions, there are unintended consequences, and we might be on the verge of seeing one such consequence in my home state of Ohio.

Ohio’s chief elections officer, Secretary of State Jon Husted, recently raised a concern that the president’s executive amnesty program could allow its participants to gain the tools necessary to illegally register to vote, namely, a valid social security number.

In a state like Ohio, personal identification like a social security number or a state driver’s license is critical to the voter registration process.  It is tough to see how state or local officials in Ohio could reasonably block an application from a non-citizen, complete with a valid name, address and social security number, from making it through the process.

This new concern strikes at another fundamental value that Americans hold dear: the integrity of our vote.

As such, we have asked Secretary Husted to bring these concerns before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He will do so today, February 12.

Reasonable people can fear that this unintended consequence will come about. After all, we have already seen video of sting operations by journalists proving how easy it is to weaken voting integrity.

Additionally, President Obama’s administration has been undermining our Homeland Security Department for years. Recently Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies noted in a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee – of which I am a member – that since 2011, the number of illegal crossers that the Border Patrol has apprehended has increased by 43 percent. Yet the number of deportations has declined by 37 percent since 2009. And since 2012, the number of criminal aliens deported from the interior of the U.S. has declined by 43 percent, even as immigration authorities have gained a greater ability to identify criminal aliens than ever before due to the nationwide implementation of the Secure Communities program.

In the context of voting, the recent push by third-party groups to register Americans to vote means that non-citizens could easily be swept up into the voter rolls, deliberately or not. And such an action would completely undermine the right of Americans to choose their own government.

Unfortunately the Obama administration has only opposed efforts by states to ensure the integrity of the ballot box. Given the fears of Secretary Husted, this must end.

Either President Obama must work with state governments to ensure that non-citizens with Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses cannot sign up to vote or can be easily identified at the ballot box, or – in truth the only way to guarantee voting integrity – Congress must act to arrest the president’s actions and return decision-making on immigration policy to where it constitutionally belongs: the hands of America’s elected representatives.