By Louis Avallone
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Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Oscar Wilde surmised that, “Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.” And Murphy’s Law cautions, “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.”
Regardless of whether you believe it is sincere ignorance, conscientious stupidity, noblest of motives, or malice, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a mannerly way to express the sheer backwards, fruitless, and shortsightedness of this White House. In fact, if you’re like me, you’re just plain, worn-out, trying to make any sense of it all.
At the end of the day, after all of the economists have completed their examinations, after the political commentators have spun their stance, and after the academics have been argued, it may just boil down to this: Stupid is as stupid does.
To prove that point, the President issued an Executive Order, earlier this month, that his administration will stop deporting young, illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria: They have to have graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED or served in the military, have no criminal record, be younger than 30 and have been brought to the U.S. under the age of 16, “by no fault of their own”.
Supporters applauded the President, claiming this Executive Order will “make sure the best and brightest among us can remain with their families.” Critics, however, claim it is an unconstitutional power grab. After all, they argue, we are a nation of laws, not merely of men. And just because some folks feel the President did the “right thing” by issuing this Executive Order, those same folks ought to consider that they may not like the next one.
Nonetheless, Executive Orders are legally binding orders given by the President. They do not require Congressional approval to take effect, but they have the same legal weight as laws passed by Congress.
Of course, constitutional scholars will debate the framers’ intent of the vaguely defined “executive power” provided in Article II, but Obama’s instruction this month to federal agencies to cease enforcement of current federal law can hardly be considered as ensuring that our country’s laws are “faithfully executed”. In fact, the President himself, in 2011, answering his critics who wanted amnesty for illegal immigrants, explained this: “With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed.”
I suppose times are different now for Obama, because this month he did what he said he couldn’t: suspend deportations. And while many folks want to talk about the flawed process by which this federal immigration policy was enacted, through Executive Order, little attention is being given to the flawed logistics of the policy itself, even if Congress had enacted it.
Here’s what I mean: There are 800,000 immigrants who will now have an opportunity to obtain work permits, which will give them legal status in the country, for up to two (2) years. How many companies will offer good paying jobs to illegal immigrants, with temporary work permits, knowing that next January, the legal status of these same immigrants could very well change? And if these companies did hire them now, and the next president rescinded Obama’s Executive Order, those same employers would be forced to terminate those immigrants, or be subjected to prosecution for employing illegal immigrants, right? Doesn’t make sense, does it?
Not only that, but the entire premise of the protection against deportation, offered by the Executive Order, is predicated upon an illegal immigrant coming forward and declaring officially that one (or both) of their parents entered the country illegally. How many illegal immigrants will come forward to claim such protection, when it is unknown how the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will use such information, under a different presidential administration? For example, would the parents then be targeted for deportation? Would the parents’ employer(s) then be notified of the parents’ ineligibility to work in the United States?
And even if an illegal immigrant is willing to jeopardize their parents’ livelihood and make their parents a bigger target for deportation, the deferral of deportation is only effective for two (2) years before the next re-evaluation. What happens if the deferral is granted, but the illegal immigrant turns age 30 before the end of the renewal date?
I mean, are you and I the only ones who see the flawed policy here? Is anyone still unsure about the motive of this self-serving, hollow, and ridiculous exhibition of political gamesmanship and shortsightedness, all at the unconscionable expense of these immigrants and their families?
And to add insult to injury, this “policy” is not even new. It’s the same policy from last August when Obama announced that 300,000 deportation cases would be reviewed and non-criminals, and those illegal immigrants who posed no public safety or national security threat, would likely have their cases put “on hold” indefinitely (and that was regardless of your age, education level, or meeting any other criteria).
No, this policy is not new. And unfortunately, neither is the politics, nor the persistent, moronic expectation of the White House that the country simply can’t tell the difference.