The Student News Site of Neshaminy High School

The Playwickian

The Student News Site of Neshaminy High School

The Playwickian

The Student News Site of Neshaminy High School

The Playwickian

Unconstitutional immigration policy threatens America

By Anthony Murray
Copy Editor

Something needs to be done about the immigration crisis in America; that much is certain. On Thursday Nov. 20, President Obama gave a 15-minute speech announcing his plans to do, well… something. Unfortunately, the solution that he proposed will only exacerbate the immigration crisis.

Obama declared that he would issue an Executive Order to suspend deportations and offer legal residency, with benefits such as work permits, for approximately 5 of the 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing in our country. This plan is unjust, counterproductive and, by Obama’s own admission, unconstitutional.

On the simplest level, it is unjust because it ignores immigration laws and fails to punish illegal immigrants for their illegal actions. The policy is also unjust to the many people who have abided by the law. There are many immigrants who entered the country legally, spending time and money to follow the law. Many other people are waiting to enter the country or have been unable to enter because they don’t have the means to go through the immigration process.

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Why is Obama giving legal residency to illegal immigrants who broke the law, while law-abiding foreigners are forced to wait? Rewarding those who break the law is unjust to those who follow it.

Not only is his plan unjust, but it will worsen the very problem it claims to address. Common sense and human experience clearly tell us that rules are broken more when they are enforced less. Traffic laws provide a perfect example. Almost everyone speeds by at least a few miles per hour because the speed limit is not usually enforced within 5 miles per hour. However, much fewer people run red lights, even if there is no one in sight, because that law is much more strictly enforced.

The same principle applies to immigration laws. Even though Obama’s reprieve does not apply to recent or future illegal border crossings, the precedent of non-enforcement will encourage more illegal immigration.

History proves this as well. With the support of President Reagan, Congress passed a law in 1986 giving amnesty to 3 million immigrants, claiming that it was a one-time solution to illegal immigration that would enable the government to secure the borders in the future, solving the immigration crisis. That plan failed.

The plan merely passed the crisis to future generations and now there are 11 million immigrants living in America. Obama’s so-called solution is to repeat this mistake even though history tells us that this plan is counterproductive. It will increase illegal immigration, decrease our border security and burden future generations with the same crisis we face today.

Even if this plan were not unjust or counterproductive, it would still be illegal and unconstitutional. Obama said this in March 2011, “With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case… for me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates [immigration laws] would not conform with my appropriate role as President.”

The immigration laws have not changed, yet Obama now believes that he can ignore the law and suspend deportations through executive order. Two years later, in Feb. 2013, Obama was asked another question about immigration and he maintained his stance by commenting, “I’m the president of the United States, I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed.”

Obama has disregarded his previous statements, ignored his Constitutional duty to execute the laws, and usurped the legislative power that is constitutionally reserved for Congress.

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Unconstitutional immigration policy threatens America