Head to Head: The law is the law
Immigration is an issue that ought to be important to every American citizen. Immigration affects everyone to some degree, whether directly or indirectly, and there’s an important distinction that needs to be made between legal and illegal immigration.
Legal immigration is great because it allows new people with new ideas and backgrounds to add to our society. The problem with illegal immigration is that it undermines those who have gone through the right legal channels as well as the impacts it has on our society and laws.
Immigration done legally allows people to enter our nation, become productive members of our society, follow our laws and pay taxes. They have every opportunity to benefit from our society and deserve to, when they entered our country legally. This is where Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) comes into play.
Unfortunately, people covered by DACA were children when they came to the United States but that does not make it legal. It just makes the problem more challenging to solve.
The people of DACA are not the sole contributors to the problem, but they are on top of the slippery slope of illegal immigration. Once one group of people is allowed to break the law and get away with it, other people will think they can too.
President Trump has tried to create a plan that stops this slope from developing now and in the future. He is trying to meet DACA recipients half way, giving them a way to stay in the US, but wants it done by changing the laws, not just going around them.
In President Trump’s plan, there is an offer for people covered by DACA to pave a pathway to citizenship. He recognizes the fact that DACA recipients were brought to the United States at a young age.
Trump once said: “I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are a nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.” Rules and regulations need to be upheld.
Additionally, one of the more important reasons Republicans and President Trump have an issue with DACA is because of the way it was formed. Previous administrations used executive orders and exercised an overreach of power.
According to the Heritage Foundation, “under our Constitution, Congress has plenary authority over immigration. The president only has the authority delegated to him by Congress – and Congress has never given the president the power to provide a pseudo-amnesty and government benefits to illegal aliens.”
Though the Trump Administration created their plan, separate proposals were discussed between Republicans and Democrats, and were formally introduced to Congress.
Congress has the ultimate authority, not executive actions. Ultimately, DACA recipients were unconstitutionally given benefits they now feel entitled to.
A compromise in Congress must be reached on immigration policy with a possibility for a pathway to citizenship. Neither side will be able to make progress without compromise.
