IMMIGRATION REFORM. Ours is a nation of laws; so very many laws. It can be argued that religious freedom is the founding principle of our country; perhaps so. But equally essential is our fundamental belief that the every man, woman, and child has a right to the "pursuit of happiness" and all the other privilege bestowed by our Bill of Rights. Adherence to law as it is properly promulgated is required for our Bill of Rights to remain vital and effective. If this premise is accepted, there can be salient points to be made regarding immigration reform. First, we must define and enforce the immigration law in its current form; that is clearly one of the proper roles of Government. Second, if that law is found wanting, we, through our Congress and President, must change that law to better reflect the will of the people. Once that law exists, then we must allow our Judicial branch of government to independently enforce the administration of that law. Regardless of their feelings about the wisdom or parity found in our current immigration law, the Obama administration is wrong to try and change that law via selective enforcement. The office of the President is blessed with many powers and authorities that should permit it to work its will, to the extent permitted by the Constitution, on existing law that it finds issues with; this is the proper route for the Administration to pursue. Once exercised, this demonstration by them of their beliefs and principles will stand the test of the electoral process and the will of the people (at least those who choose to participate) will be worked. What the Obama administration is doing by choosing to ignore selected portions of current law is a perversion of our Constitution and the premises upon which this nation was built. It is fair and proper to argue the merits of an issue; it is not fair and proper to change the rules of the game (when the opportunity presents itself through a sheer powerplay) in a fashion not originally prescribed in an effort to foist personal standards of moral and ethical behavior on the people our government represents.
If the Obama administration chooses to elevate immigration reform to a high level of political contention, it is incumbent upon them (and anyone else who makes that same choice) to not only talk about the changes it desires but to properly seek those changes through the constitutional process. It should be the course of this Administration to either allocate its legions of talent and resources to the task of authoring an immigration reform bill for consideration by Congress or work that same process through a surrogate representative on Captiol Hill.
