[H]ere is a brief summary of five of the lowest points in the Obama administration's systematic circumvention of immigration laws.

Tweet

A new report by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) shows the incredible extent to which President Barack Obama is thrashing U.S. immigration law.

The report chronicles a timeline of abuse beginning in January 2009 and ending on February 13, 2015 – the day the House Judiciary Committee revealed a little-known program to give illegal immigrants with deferred deportation status a pathway to citizenship.

The timeline begins with a statement of Obama's initially forswearing any ability to bypass Congress and grant unilateral amnesty. "We live in a democracy. You have to pass bills through the legislature, and then I can sign it."

Yet, by the middle of his second term Obama announced he would use executive directives to grant work permits and access to taxpayer-funded benefits for up to five million illegal immigrants. This followed an earlier executive decision to defer deportation proceedings for more than a half-million illegals brought to the United States as children.

Though the full timeline released by Sessions runs more than 50 pages and includes hundreds of instances, here is a brief summary of five of the lowest points in the Obama administration's systematic circumvention of immigration laws.

1. January 2009: Obama Administration Ends Worksite Enforcement Actions

After agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained 28 illegal immigrants using fake Social Security numbers and identity documents, pro-amnesty activists convinced the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to discontinue the practice. At the time, Esther Olavarria, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, is quoted as saying, "we're not doing raids or audits under this administration."

2. June 18, 2010: Obama Administration Sues Arizona to Block Immigration Enforcement

After increasing criminal activity due in part to a large and growing population of illegal immigrants, Arizona legislators enacted state-level procedures to verify a suspect's immigration status. Though nothing in the state law exceeded or undermined the text or intent of federal immigration law, the Obama administration objected to state practices that might infringe on its discretion not to verify a person's immigration status. The case was eventually decided in favor of the Obama administration by the United States Supreme Court.

3. September 2, 2011: Inspector General Says IRS Giving $4.2 Billion in Tax Credits to Ineligible Illegal Immigrants

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) publishes a report saying that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued $4.2 billion in tax credits to ineligible illegal immigrants. As stated in the report, "Millions of people are seeking this tax credit, who, we believe, are not entitled to it. We have made recommendations to the IRS as to how they could address this, and they have not taken sufficient action in our view to solve this problem." Moreover, "the payment of Federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive to enter, reside, and work in the United States without authorization, which contradicts Federal law and policy to remove such incentives."

4. February 26, 2013: DHS Admits It Has No Metrics for Determining Whether the Border is Secure

A report by the Government Accountability Office confirms that DHS has failed to create a reliable metric to prove it has operational control over the southern border. The requirement stems from a 2006 law, but is later abandoned by the Obama administration. A month later, the New York Times reports that administration officials "had resisted producing a single measure to assess the border because the president did not want any hurdles placed on the pathway to eventual citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally."

5. October 6, 2014: USCIS Solicits Bids to Produce Up to 34 Million Immigration ID Cards

Barely a month before President Obama announces plans to legalize up to five million illegal immigrants without congressional authorization, USCIS solicits bids from private contractors to create up to 34 million identification cards for illegal immigrants.

There are many, many more instances included in Sessions' timeline report, and readers are encouraged to consult this list to get a full picture of the crisis.

In a nation famously dedicated to the rule of law, the systemic undermining of the country's immigration code shows that enforcement is now up to the whim of one.