Republican Lawmakers Sponsor Bill to HALT 'Backdoor Amnesty'

The U.S. House conducted a hearing Tuesday on the HALT Act, which aims to curb administrative discretion in deporting illegal aliens.

The bill, authored by Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and co-sponsored by more than a dozen congressmen, including Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., came in response to the Obama administration's announced policy of prioritizing deportations to remove violent criminals first.

The Obama administration has ignored the will of Congress and the American people by using executive branch authority to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States, said Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Democrats branded Smith's bill "petty partisan politics," but critics of Obama's administrative order say the Hinder the Administration's Legalization Temptation Act is needed to block what they call "backdoor amnesty" for some 12 million illegal aliens in this country.