So is this really the end product of 1776? Some guy with a pen and a phone makes unilateral decisions about what laws in the country apply, and to whom? That sounds more like the role of a king than an American President.
But I obviously do not mean an English king, because English monarchs work within the restrictions set by Parliament. “The will of the people”, and all that.
Of course, the rule of law is being applied so haphazardly these days that I will need to be more specific about which particular violation I’m addressing, won’t I? In this instance, I am referring to Obama’s attempt to extend government benefits to Illegal Immigrants. In effect, paying (rewarding) people for breaking the law.
How does this work, exactly?
The Executive Branch decided to bypass the Legislative branch. Obama unilaterally created the DAPA program. This program effectively overrules the framework of laws created by the Legislative branch governing who can enter the country, and under what circumstances. For the record, Texas has gone to court, seeking to block this policy.
Remember Obama’s promise to “fundamentally transform America”? Maybe journalists ought to have asked some follow-up questions.
Since many of you have lives, and jobs, and better things to do than keep up with every piece of political policy minutia, here’s the takeaway in a nutshell:
DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents) is a program that effectively changes the status of illegal immigrants. It does not magically transform people who have entered the country unlawfully into legal immigrants. What it does do, (unless it is successfully blocked) is instantly reclassify at least 4 million people as being “lawfully present” in America.
What are the implications of lawful presence status? I’m glad you asked. “Lawful Presence” is an immigration classification that had been established by Congress which is prerequisite for benefits like Medicare or Social Security.
So, you guessed it, with the stroke of a pen, Obama has dumped 4 million more people to the “unfunded liability” side of the ledger.
The Solicitor General also claims that, implicit in this program, is a right for those 4 million illegal immigrants to join the workforce. As in, since they are already permitted to stay, how are they going to support themselves unless they can work? Marvel at the power Obama wields!
Since he has told us repeatedly he has a Pen and a Phone, why doesn’t Obama drop all pretense, and follow the lead of King Charles I? Just dissolve Congress, and send them home? Their work is irrelevant anyway, since Obama just overrides laws he doesn’t like. Or else, he simply refuses to implement them. What? That would be the work of a Tyrant, you say? Yeah, maybe that’s my point. “We the People”, and all that…
Isn’t it the President’s job to see that the laws are “faithfully executed?” Or maybe that was before America was Fundamentally Transformed.
In closing, I leave you with a quote with the Solicitor General explaining the implications. (Originally from CSNNews.)
“In general,” he says, “only ‘qualified’ aliens are eligible to participate in federal public benefit programs, and deferred action does not make an alien ‘qualified.’… Aliens with deferred action thus cannot receive food stamps, Supplemental Security Income, temporary aid for needy families, and many other federal benefits.”
But, he says, aliens here illegally with deferred action will be eligible for “earned-benefit programs.”
“A non-qualified alien is not categorically barred, however, from participating in certain federal earned-benefit programs associated with lawfully working in the United States — the Social Security retirement and disability, Medicare, and railroad-worker programs — so long as the alien is ‘lawfully present in the United States as determined by the (Secretary [Of Homeland Security]),'” says the solicitor general.
