I think this little thing might have slid under the radar with all of the hubbub surround the death of bin Laden and the weather disasters that swept through the south. It seems that President Obama is going to ask/tell Sen (Prince) Harry Reid (D-NV) to revisit the DREAM Act. For those of you who might not be aware, this act was going to give citizenship to children that were brought here illegally, as long as they followed certain steps such as going to college or joining the military.
During a speech given during a commencement ceremony at Miami Dade (Community) College, the President alluded to bringing back the DREAM Act. During the lame duck session of Congress last December a cloture vote failed so the piece of legislation didn’t reach the floor for a final vote. It appeared this was going to be dead. HA! Shame on us for thinking that. During his speech last week Obama said this:
“I strongly believe we should fix our broken immigration system. Fix it so that it meets our 21st-century economic and security needs. And I want to work with Democrats and republicans, yes, to protect our borders, and enforce our laws, and address the status of millions of undocumented workers. And I will keep fighting alongside many of you to make the DREAM Act the law of the land.”
I love it how progressives continually use the term “undocumented workers” rather than the proper term of illegal immigrants. It’s not like they forgot to go down to the local worker documentation agency to get their worker licenses. These people crossed a sovereign border, many in the dark of night or the back of semi-trucks. They completely skipped over getting their worker visas or green cards. Undocumented workers? Not hardly.
Maybe I am not remembering things correctly but I seem to recall from my youth there used to be migrants farm-workers who had some sort of quasi-legal status to work here. They would basically follow the sun. Work California, and then move to Oregon and Washington. Even if my memory is a little clouded, why couldn’t we work some sort of system like that. They would have to apply for a migrant worker visas and it would expire after a certain number of months. They would not get, nor would there be, a special track for citizenship. They would have to apply for citizenship just like everyone else. Plus, if a plan like this were to be implemented, the law would have to be strictly enforced. If a migrant worker didn’t have his/her “card”, instant deportation, plus a two year ban from applying in the future. And the farmer or farm company would be held accountable. All farm subsidies, if there are any, would be ended for a period of time plus mandatory unannounced spot checks each month. If we did something like this then they would be “documented workers”.
“Like all this country’s movements towards justice, it will be difficult and it will take time.
When he speaks about “…this country’s movements towards justice…” in a way he is comparing apples to oranges. Earlier in his speech he mentioned several instances when certain groups of folks struggled to gain acceptance in this nation of ours. He mentioned women’s right to vote, the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and the way Irish and Jewish immigrants were treated in the 19th century. The one thing he forgot to point out was in each of those cases the groups were legal citizens of this nation. Since these people were citizens, corrections needed to be made. The illegal immigrants from (mostly) south of the border are not here legally, they are not citizens, and they are breaking the law, so there is no correction that needs to be made.
I know some here wish that I could bypass Congress and change the law myself. But that is not how democracy works. See, democracy is hard. But it’s right.”
Mr. President, It’s not like you haven’t already pulled the executive order out of your pocket before to get things to happen that the American people don’t want. If you wish to see a list of Executive Orders issued by Obama, click here. Many of his EO’s are fairly benign, mostly having to do with forming some committee or task force. But there are a few that smack of authoritarian rule.
EO 13547 – Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes gives very broad powers to an inter-agency task force to make rules and regulations concerning how the waters surrounding and contained within our borders are utilized and managed. It does strip many states rights to govern their own water resources.
EO 13535 – Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Consistency with Longstanding Restrictions on the Use of Federal Funds for Abortion is supposed to nullify the provision within Obama care that essentially allows the use of federal funds for abortions and the denial of Federal money for those care givers that won’t provide abortions based on their moral beliefs. There is a lot of concern this EO may not be worth the paper it is written on. But for me the concern goes deeper. Basing this objection on the well thought out design of checks and balances by the writers of our Constitution, it troubles me that Obama would, by executive fiat, try to nullify a federal law of the land. I oppose Obama care to my very core but it is still the law of the land (until conservatives wrest control of the Senate and take the White House in 2012) and must be treated as such. The President doesn’t have the authority to nullify a federal law.
On top of his EOs he has also given very broad powers to the Interior Department and the EPA to basically install the foundations of his Cap and Trade policies. Congress debated and passed the Clean Air and Clean Waters Acts over the years and further strengthening or weakening of these Acts is reserved for Congress, not the EPA.
I know that granting citizenship to illegal immigrants has long been a dream (excuse the pun) of the progressives. What better way to build a nearly unbeatable majority that to grant citizenship to 12 million or so folks. The DREAM Act is just another step in the process. The progressives trot out the sob stories of how these kids had no choice, they were too young to make the decision for themselves. And it is touching. But what is the next step? Are the progressive next going to cry to us that we need to grant citizenship to the parents of these DREAM Act kids? I can see it now, some progressive Senator from California is going to bring up the DREAM Moms Act. They are going to say we need to grant legal status so mom and dad can attend the college or basic training graduation ceremony without fear of being arrested and deported.
We tried once already to give blanket amnesty to illegal immigrants under President Reagan and it was a huge failure. Rather than curb illegal immigration by the promised increased enforcement, it only encouraged more to cross the border in hopes another Congress or President would make the same stupid mistake of granting amnesty.
Mr. Obama, if you want to talk about immigration reform, then you make the first move. Enforce the dang laws that are already on the books. I don’t care if your ultimate goal is to get rid of these laws and grant amnesty. I want the laws enforced before we make another move in your direction (not that I even want that). Secure the borders. I know that ICE has been deporting illegals in increasing numbers. Well, why don’t you make a plan to keep those folks from coming back? Make the border harder to cross, put up a fence and patrol it. Get the National Guard to provide US border security. While you at it, if an illegal commits a heinous crime (rape, aggravated assault, drug running), deport them. But don’t send them back to Mexico or Central America. Send them to Tierra del Fuego. Make it next to impossible for the criminal to make it back here in a short amount of time. Under the Constitution our sovereignty is your job and you have failed.
Two more things then I’ll let you go:
The whole “they do the work most Americans won’t do” is so tiring and it is a crock of bull chips. Growing up, one of the most coveted jobs (and hardest, there is no doubt) was picking berries at the local berry farms. The work was hard and the pay not all that great. But the benefits were great. You worked outside all day and the berries were awesome to eat. You made some terrific friends. It was amazing how great a social equalizer working a berry farm could be. I remember working a row of strawberries across from one of the most popular girls in school (very cute!). We spent many days just talking about everything from our friends in school to our dreams. We became great friends. But those jobs are gone. Many of the farms are still there but the work is now done by illegal workers.
Near the conclusion of his speech, President Obama has this to say:
“I’m only going to be President a little bit longer.”
Hopefully it will be a lot bit shorter than he thinks.
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