Arkansas’s new delegation in the U.S. House voted in unison Wednesday on a funding bill intended to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from following President Obama’s executive order on immigration.
4th District Representative Bruce Westerman took to the floor for his first time ever to address an amendment related to the funding bill. Westerman objected both to the President’s policy and the fact it came through an executive order.
“Many of my constituents are much like me. We are ready for a government that works like the one we studied in civics class. One with co-equal branches of power,” said Westerman.
The executive order would could change the status of just under half of the country’s estimated 11.4 million undocumented immigrants. It expands legal status to many children brought illegally in; parents of citizens who have resided in the U.S. for over five years; allows for the payment of more taxes; and prioritizes deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records – other than illegal entry into the country.
