This is perhaps the most heartbreaking to write. I like to look at the big picture and the interconnections of one act and the rest of the economy, society, foreign policy, and so on. However, this is just unfair. Therefore, it deserves a post devoted to it because it’s just cruel. It has no benefit to anyone, it has nothing to do with what we stand for, and it’s rooted in nationalism and nativism. Yes, the DACA children didn’t come here legally, but I don’t care. I don’t care because Trump doesn’t care. If he had actually considered the illegality of their crossing into the United States, maybe I would have cared about that part of it, but he and many people only care that they weren’t born here. Moreover, many people are even upset that those who don’t look like them are born here everyday. So, it has nothing to do with illegal immigration. It has to do with skin color, culture, language, and religion.
I’d like to keep this post clean and analytical rather than make it a rant. Those of you that are here for a nuanced argument, this paragraph is for you. The argument is pretty one-sided, but I am definitely not going to ignore anyone’s opinions. The fact is they weren’t born here, their parents came here illegally, and someone has to be punished. We’re a nation of laws, and that’s all there is to it. That’s a fact. Now, how do we do that? Do we just put them in jail? I mean, it seems the popular opinion is to just deport them and be done with it. That seems like a fair solution. I mean, some of those kids knew it was illegal and came with their parents anyway. Another solution is to deport their parents and let their kids stay because the kids were just dependents that would have not survived on their own because they were old enough to know the law but not old enough to take care of themselves. Another option is to deport them all and give them priority in terms of applying to come back legally. The other issue is whether they would be given a conviction for the illegal crossing, which would make it harder for them to come back, even with priority.
So, there’s a lot to consider in this case. If we’re just looking at the law, it’s quite hard to enforce the laws and also give these individuals and their parents a chance. They broke the law, and in the spirit of the rule of law and to ensure that people understand laws are to be enforced and not selectively ignored, it seems really hard to enforce every relevant law and yet somehow let these people stay or let them come back after deporting them.
Given that it’s incredibly hard to enforce the laws that are on the books, that opens up a discussion that I don’t think anyone is really having. We’re all hung up on the morality of the issue, and we’re missing the fact that there is something already on the books that tells us exactly what to do. In fact, we’ve looked at it already. Yes, I’VE written about it already, but the Supreme Court of the United States of America has already written about it. They’ve decided upon it already. When emotions are high, we tend to talk about ethics and what we stand for and our mission as a country. We’ve always been quite different. Despite Andrew Miller‘s recent perversion of the meaning of the Statue of Liberty, we’ve always been a nation with open arms. However, ALL OF THIS is so incredibly unnecessary here.
Let’s take a look! Amazingly, I can explain it all in just a few paragraphs.
Hi, Times of Resistance, thank you for your support in following and liking my posts earlier this year. Thank you!
ashes4him
Thank you for following my blog and welcome to the fence jumpers. @sheilamgood at Cow Pasture Chronicles
I’m unsure on the exact objective of this post. For the record I do support allowing DACA kids to stay and so does President Trump for that matter. I have not read all your posts to know exactly where you stand but I’m guessing you’re not a Trump supporter?
I think you were right on point when you wrote above, “We’re all hung up on the morality of the issue, and we’re missing the fact that there is something already on the books that tells us exactly what to do.” I would call this, “Rule of Law” … we are a Nation of Laws not of ideals of the majority. DACA was an attempt to undermine rule of law because it felt like the right thing to do.
Obama himself said this was not possible on many occasions but went ahead and did it anyway, creating a false sense of security for these already troubled community. This was a travesty and Trump promises to fix it.
The issue of concern for many Americans, that was grasped by President Trump early on, was “The Wall” … the Resist Movement does not seem willing to support a border wall. Do you see supporting a wall as a legitimate trade-off for DACA?
Millions of Americans believe a wall is required to provide security and validity to our sovereignty as a Nation. Trump won the Election running on that issue. So resisting the wall is an attempt to ignore the voters and those Americans who believe our core values as the land of Liberty is being undermined by ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
There is a purposeful deception driven by the resist movement to blur the lines between immigrants and illegals, a distinction understood with total clarity by informed Americans. I hope your resist efforts are to resist the ideologues who will kill DACA in an effort undermine American Sovereignty by refusing to support a Wall.
The wall issue has won the political argument on many occasions, but has yet to manifest. This link may prove helpful in learning more about this nuanced and yet highly emotional subject. https://www.usamnesty.org
I hope this comment makes sense and I am eager to get your feedback too. Thanks!
Thank you, Jay. I appreciate your comment. While I understand your point of view, please note that the rule of law does not match a crime with a punishment. It matches a criminal with a punishment.
Given that the Dreamers were forced to come here, they are not criminals. No crime was perpetrated by them or against them. They’re displaced, and we’re settling them here because they want to be here. If they didn’t want to be here, maybe another country would accept them.
This is how our country was founded.
I agree entirely with your reply … You ignored my questions which are pertinent to the issue. Can we get a wall as part of Immigration reform including DACA?
That’s a different analysis. I don’t know whether each party can come to a compromise. Compromise, indeed, is something of a taboo in some cases. If you ask me, I’d like compromise.
I don’t want a wall, but my only concern in that regard is the cost. I don’t think the wall will do anything, and I’d like to save money for something that might work.
In the interest of brevity, I’ll be straightforward: no, I don’t think we’ll get a wall as part of DACA Reform. I think we’ll continue to get nothing for quite a while.
Thanks for the follow-up comment. Compromise has become a naughty word as we become more and more polarized. I am very happy to hear you’re open to compromise to advance the DACA decision. I will be very upset if Democrats hard-line resist on this important issue that needs compromise or if the Republicans hard-line against DACA.
I am a centrist and more pragmatic than the extreme positions taken by both sides of the isle in the establishment of Washington DC. Our forefathers set up our system to be difficult to change. Requiring compromise or genuine innovation that is supported by the majority, who are willing to work the system over time to create the progress we demand as a society.
I do understand your concerns about costs on the wall. But I also think a wall is a reasonable compromise because it will slow down Illegal crossings and drug trafficking, and it will deter future administrations from pursing an open boarder policy by undermining enforcement as both the G.W. Bush and Obama Administration did.
Clinton was a much better leader on the immigration front. I believe the majority of Americans will support a compromise. I am hopeful that Trump and the Democrats can make this happen and not be thwarted by either side because of politics.
DACA is unrelated to the “wall”.
If the author doesn’t mind be jumping in here; in response to “Millions of Americans believe a wall is required to provide security and validity to our sovereignty as a Nation”.
Possibly, but that doesn’t imply much of anything. What is meaningful is that a substantial (63% +) majority of Americans adamantly oppose the wall. It’s nothing more than a grossly expensive red herring meant to continue Trump’s unfounded, xenophobic dogma.
Trump didn’t win the election solely upon “the wall”, rather an entire collection of ultra-conservative rhetoric and stated “positions”.
We are indeed a nation of laws and we can both agree that we must have law to continue as a society. However; laws without mercy and with blind obedience/intolerance is life in nothing more than an authoritarian, fascist state. “Authoritarianism refers to a governmental or political system, principle, or practice in which individual freedom is held as completely subordinate to the power or authority of the state”. Law must be merciful, which is precisely why the courts/juries are given latitude in decisions and findings.
Blindly enacting laws is just as dangerous as blind adherence to law. When we seek and reach that state, we’re no longer remotely qualified to be the moral leaders of the world, or even to be considered humane.
Blind adherence to the law is not always the right path to take, and in the case of DACA, “right/decent” is not turning our backs on people who had no choice in their circumstance, sending them to a world completely foreign to them, one they know little, if anything about, just to satisfy over-zealous adherence to the law.
Bob says 63%+ “adamantly oppose” a wall. According to whom? I’ve also seen polls that say 80%+ strongly support a wall. Unless you’re polling the entire nation, election night 2016 should have taught us that polls from either side are at best a springboard for discussion. Polls, just like statistics, can very easily be made to lie.
As for compromise, it’s good TO A POINT. There must be some things in life we aren’t willing to compromise. For Americans especially, that list should start with the Constitution. The fact that politicians of both parties now, and other parties previously, and all three branches of our government, have so willingly twisted and distorted the Constitution for their own gains and desires is one of the main reasons we find ourselves in the predicament we’re in.
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You are so right on about this. It’s not the children’s fault that their parents came here illegally . We don’t know what they went through in their own countries to make them risk every thing to come here. As for Trump, doesn’t he look in his mirror. He married two women who may or may not have come here legally and had children by them. Are they going to be sent back to Slovenia and the Czech Republic ? Just asking. Excellent post.
Thank you for comment. When I’m not blogging, I’m working on a couple different books, and one is fiction. Even with a fiction writer’s mindset, I can’t come up with any scenario in which the vast majority of these children could’ve stayed in their home country without their parents. Trump can talk all he wants, but these kids need our help, and they are welcome to stay with me if they’d like.
I’m glad you liked my post. I hope I added value to your day, and I hope you pass that on to others in your life.