A lot has been said recently about upcoming votes in the House regarding immigration. For me, however, there is only one thing that we need to focus on, and it is this:
The United States has detailed immigration laws that mandate that people who are in the country illegally are barred from working, cannot receive government benefits, and are to be removed from the country. There are also federal laws that impose heavy penalties on employers who give jobs to those here illegally and which put a heavy burden on employers to determine the immigration status of those they employ. These laws make no exception for those who were brought here as children by their parents. Federal law also requires the president and the department of Homeland Security to keep the nation's borders secure. Despite all these laws, the federal government under president Obama does almost none of these things. For some of these laws (like no special treatment for children), Obama has announced that the government is not going even to try to enforce the law. For other statutes, the government has made no announcement, but it has clearly chosen not to enforce those laws. Just look at the porous nature of our border with Mexico if you need proof.
If president Obama and the federal agencies do not bother to enforce the current immigration laws, why do we need to spend time writing new ones? Won't Obama just enforce the parts of the laws that he likes and ignore the others? Isn't it a fool's errand to waste energy writing new laws that we know will not be enforced?
When someone can give me a satisfactory answer to this issue, I will concern myself with the substance of the proposed new laws. Until then, I refuse to waste my time, and I suggest that Congress do likewise.
The United States has detailed immigration laws that mandate that people who are in the country illegally are barred from working, cannot receive government benefits, and are to be removed from the country. There are also federal laws that impose heavy penalties on employers who give jobs to those here illegally and which put a heavy burden on employers to determine the immigration status of those they employ. These laws make no exception for those who were brought here as children by their parents. Federal law also requires the president and the department of Homeland Security to keep the nation's borders secure. Despite all these laws, the federal government under president Obama does almost none of these things. For some of these laws (like no special treatment for children), Obama has announced that the government is not going even to try to enforce the law. For other statutes, the government has made no announcement, but it has clearly chosen not to enforce those laws. Just look at the porous nature of our border with Mexico if you need proof.
If president Obama and the federal agencies do not bother to enforce the current immigration laws, why do we need to spend time writing new ones? Won't Obama just enforce the parts of the laws that he likes and ignore the others? Isn't it a fool's errand to waste energy writing new laws that we know will not be enforced?
When someone can give me a satisfactory answer to this issue, I will concern myself with the substance of the proposed new laws. Until then, I refuse to waste my time, and I suggest that Congress do likewise.
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