President Obama's order on immigration goes beyond his powers under the Constitution. That is reason alone to oppose it. We ought not stand by as Obama undermines the document which has provided our basic government rules for nearly two and a half centuries. But let's get beyond the basic illegality of the move and consider two other things:
First of all, under Obama's order, the average America worker will see his wages held down and his cost of living rise. If we were all living in good times with rising incomes and lifestyles, that might not be such a problem, but we are not. Oh, Obama has followed policies that benefitted the truly rich; this group has done quite well under Obama. The big middle class of America, however, as well as the working poor have been squeezed by Obama's policies. Adding the extra burden of the immigration order on working Americans is truly not fair. No one should doubt that adding many millions of new workers to the legal workforce will keep wages down. In fact, some think that Obama's immigration order is nothing more than another present being given to Obama's super-wealthy supporters who want to prevent labor costs at their companies from rising.
Second, Obama's order actually results in things being easier and better for those immigrants who came here illegally when compared to those who followed the law and arrived in the USA in accordance with the rules. The people who need green cards or work visas to get legal jobs must go jump all sorts of hurdles to obtain those papers. Many legal immigrants eventually just give up trying because the process is so difficult for some. Obama's order, however, allows many millions of illegal immigrants to bypass that legal system and get work papers in a relatively easy manner. This is just not fair. Adding additional immigrants to the legal system is one thing, but doing an end run around that system to put those who broke the law ahead of those who followed the law is just plain wrong.
First of all, under Obama's order, the average America worker will see his wages held down and his cost of living rise. If we were all living in good times with rising incomes and lifestyles, that might not be such a problem, but we are not. Oh, Obama has followed policies that benefitted the truly rich; this group has done quite well under Obama. The big middle class of America, however, as well as the working poor have been squeezed by Obama's policies. Adding the extra burden of the immigration order on working Americans is truly not fair. No one should doubt that adding many millions of new workers to the legal workforce will keep wages down. In fact, some think that Obama's immigration order is nothing more than another present being given to Obama's super-wealthy supporters who want to prevent labor costs at their companies from rising.
Second, Obama's order actually results in things being easier and better for those immigrants who came here illegally when compared to those who followed the law and arrived in the USA in accordance with the rules. The people who need green cards or work visas to get legal jobs must go jump all sorts of hurdles to obtain those papers. Many legal immigrants eventually just give up trying because the process is so difficult for some. Obama's order, however, allows many millions of illegal immigrants to bypass that legal system and get work papers in a relatively easy manner. This is just not fair. Adding additional immigrants to the legal system is one thing, but doing an end run around that system to put those who broke the law ahead of those who followed the law is just plain wrong.
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