- Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California encouraged then-President Barack Obama to use broad presidential powers to tighten immigration rules in response to a wave of migration from Central America in 2014.
- In a letter to Obama, Feinstein cited the same statutory authority that President Donald Trump invoked to make illegal border-crossers ineligible for asylum.
- That authority comes from Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the president to “impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”