Conservative groups influential with the Trump administration have pressed for the preemptive acts of clemency.

Conservative groups influential with the Trump administration have pressed for the preemptive acts of clemency.

There’s a world of difference between a pardon issues to prevent malicious prosecution for non-crimew and one issued to people you’ve been instructing to commit crimes

  • mkwt@lemmy.world
    1·
    18 hours ago

    The President has not been granted the power of amnesty over immigration violations.

    Consider that President Obama tried a much narrower executive action to exercise prosecution discretion over immigration violations, and that still faced some very stiff scrutiny from the courts. If Obama had an amnesty power, he would have probably used it.

    Presidents do have a few other levers to let people enter and stay in the country on their discretion:

    • certain visas have very broad and subjective criteria that can be used to admit individuals case by case.
    • Presidents can grant Temporary Protected Status to nationalities based on disasters or other contingencies in the home countries. TPS cannot lead to permanent residence or naturalization, but it is a “legal status.”
    • presidents have a lot of power in how they process applications from refugees. They can use that power to admit more refugees or fewer refugees.
    • Presidents control the policies on use of immigration parole. Immigration parole is basically like release on bond, but without an immigration court case or court date.