DACA was big news yesterday, but what is it? DACA
stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – an immigration policy
created by executive action of President Barack Obama in June 2012. DACA provides
that some illegal immigrants who entered the country as minors get deferred
action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. DACA was rescinded
by executive action of President Donald Trump September
5, 2017 (with a delayed implementation of 6 months with implication
that Congress needs to institute DACA through legislative action or provide a
replacement).
A program created through executive authority was
problematic from the very beginning. How could these young people trust in this
benefit created by simple presidential authority which can as easily be whisked
away by presidential executive action (as it has been). While Trump is the goat
in the news media at the moment, we must also understand Obama set up this failure
by creating through executive action what must be created through legislative
action. Congress also deserves blame. The U.S. Congress needs to actually do
something to fix our broken-down immigration system – and with it provide some
relief for the difficult situation of those who were brought here and have
lived here since they were small children.[i]
It is not the President’s job to make laws. Congress needs to get in gear,
stand up to the task and do its duty, according to the Constitution. Seems also
everyone but Congress, regardless of party-affiliation or philosophical bent,
understands that our immigration policy is severely broken and requires serious
attention. It will be ironic if the President being cursed for repealing DACA forces
the hand of Congress into legal immigration reform.
I am no expert in the arena of immigration, but I
have my opinions. I have no detailed fixes, but I have general ideas. None of
them are likely new or original, but they seem better than keeping the status
quo. Regarding the specific repeal of DACA, hopefully Congress will be awakened
into moving forward to pass some legislation regarding children brought here as
infants. They have been raised in America as Americans. They know little or nothing
of the culture and country of their parents. Some of them may not even speak
the language of their parent’s culture and country of origin.
Any legislation that Congress passes must consider
the past and plan for the future. Addressing the future should incentivize
legal immigration without rewarding illegal immigration. The past is past and
not easily fixed – and certainly will never be to everyone’s satisfaction. Why
not draw a line/set a date and say, “Anyone who is already here on
such-and-such a date – if you are not a terrorist or a criminal[ii]
– may stay as a documented non-citizen resident.” Such non-citizen residents
would not be deported, and a path to citizenship provided and encouraged
(though not one that mocks those who came legally and are on the current legal path to citizenship).
Those unable to walk the path to citizenship could remain as non-citizen
residents who benefit from being in our country but don’t get all the benefits
of being citizens. With this in the past, move on to real reform in the future.
This post addresses immigration from a national,
legal and political perspective,[iii]
and I will hope to post more from the Christian perspective tomorrow.
[i] It is a well-known principle
that children suffer harm from the actions of their parents. For example, if a
man is imprisoned for murder, his children will live without the benefits of a
father in the home and other related benefits. We don’t refuse to punish crime
because of the consequences to children. Yet there is Christian kindness and
compassion in mitigating as much as possible the harm that children suffer as
the consequences of the actions of their parents.
[ii]
Other than the crime of illegal immigration.
[iii] Hopefully driven by
Christian principles.
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