In 2001 a bipartisan bill entitled “The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (S.1291)” was brought forward in the Senate. The proposed law would allow “undocumented immigrants” who came to America as minors to eventually get permanent legal status. This provision was contingent on those “undocumented immigrant” minors fulfilling the following qualifications:
-Meet the age requirement
-Attend or graduate from some type of higher learning
-Be of good moral character
-Not violate any other immigration laws
-Remain physically present in the country for a certain time
The term “DREAMer” was coined to refer to someone who was brought to the country as a minor illegally with no documentation.
The initial 2001 DREAM Act failed in the Senate. Since then, there’ve been at least 21 similar bills introduced to Congress that attempted to accomplish basically the same goals. All were either stuck in committee or failed to pass one house or another.
These so-called “DREAMers” were essentially living in limbo since they were not U.S. citizens. As some put it, they are “living in the shadows”, reaping the rewards of living in America without sharing in the responsibilities that accompany that privilege.
The DACA Disaster
In Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, it is Congress that is granted exclusive authority “to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization”. In other words, Congress hold all authority to make laws regarding who gets to come to the U.S., who gets to become a citizen, and who does not.
In 2012, tired of Congress’ inaction, then-POTUS Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security began the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program.
This was in spite of the fact that Obama repeatedly said he did not have the power nor the Constitutional authority to do this.
From Hans A. von Spakovsky:
“Responding in October 2010 to demands that he implement immigration reforms unilaterally, Obama declared, “I am not king. I can’t do these things just by myself.” In March 2011, he said that with “respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case.” In May 2011, he acknowledged that he couldn’t “just bypass Congress and change the (immigration) law myself. … That’s not how a democracy works.”
Yet in 2012, he did it anyway. He put DACA in place to provide pseudo-legal status to illegal aliens brought to the U.S. as minors, including as teenagers. He promised them that they wouldn’t be deported and provided them with work authorizations and access to Social Security and other government benefits.”
So that was 2012. Then November 2014 Obama tried to expand who was covered by DACA. There were a lot of lawsuits that attempted to stop this expansion. The expansion was blocked by the courts then rescinded by DHS on June 16, 2017. However, the illegal immigrants still in the pipeline were unaffected.
Enter President Donald Trump
September 5, 2017 the DACA program was rescinded. Kinda. A 6 month delay on the full implementation was enacted so Congress would have time to figure out what to do with the current illegal immigrant population.
And that brings us to today. Democrats are attempting to make DACA permanent. Congress is still lumbering toward its March deadline (a deadline that is totally negotiable, in other words, get ready to watch the can get kicked down the road).
In the meantime, the American people (you and I), are sitting back, watching a political squabble that would put most 2nd grade playground fights to shame.
So what do Americans care about when it comes to this issue? We want a sealed border so that we can be secure in our property and livelihood. We want those who have broken the law to face proper justice. We want to have a reasonable number of legal immigrants who love America and who are coming to make something of themselves and contribute to society.
Seems like pretty reasonable requests. But when was the last time Congress, let alone the federal government, was reasonable?
