“Welcome, Comrades, to another Monday! There is word of hostage release, doubling down on collusion charges, criminal referrals to DOJ from Congress- or part of it, anyway- 24 gunshot victims on the first decent night in Chicago- and the change in leadership at DHS as the Border becomes more complex. Of course there is more fun in the Swamp as we approach the next election. As a follower of the politico-military parade, I have never seen anything like what is passing before us. What a treat. Except for America, of course, but Arrias points that out better than I can. – Vic”
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Should the police be allowed to drive faster than the speed limit?
I don’t mean when they’re responding to a crime, just when they’re driving, maybe headed for lunch?
Shouldn’t they respect the law? No one is above the law, right? And as public servants they have a duty to set the example by following the law. Right?
The other day a friend of mine asked me whether the situation at the border, and illegal immigration as a whole, constituted an emergency; I’ve been chewing on that.
The dictionary defines emergency as “unforeseen circumstances that call for immediate action.” On the other hand, neither the Constitution nor the National Emergencies Act defines “emergency.”
59 National Emergencies have been declared since 1976, 32 are currently in effect. Using those “emergencies” as guidance, President Trump is easily within bounds declaring an emergency.
But there’s more to it.
In a 2017 study at Yale University it was determined that the number of illegal immigrants – usually given as 11 million – was incorrect. In fact, they derived a range between 17 million and 30 million illegal immigrants, the mathematical model for best fit suggesting 22.5 million – as of the end of 2017.
Without going into the issue – which is a valid one – that a small number of these people might be terrorists or in the employ of foreign powers, just the presence of 22 million illegal immigrants raises issues; while it can be argued that they’ll do jobs no one else will do, and that many do in fact pay taxes, they also compete for lower wage jobs with our citizens, and the government has a legal and moral responsibility to its citizens that precedes any moral responsibility to those who aren’t US citizens.
There has also been the obscure argument that immigrants make the country safer – that they commit crimes at a lower rate than do other citizens. The inference is that illegal immigrants would commit crimes at no higher a rate than legal immigrants (though how you can conduct an authoritative survey with that community remains an unanswered question).
But, irrespective, this is a twisting of the words; if illegal immigrants weren’t here they would commit no crimes in the US. Any crime committed adds to the overall total.
But there’s another sense, arguably more important – that makes that assertion inane; every illegal immigrant is breaking the law. They are all, in a very real and explicit sense, criminals.
Before the caterwauling begins, these aren’t violent criminals. But there’s a real and corrosive truth here: the law is being violated and a large portion of the political class not only see nothing wrong with that, they endorse it and wish to reward these folks.
I’ve nothing against anyone who wants to come to the US and participate in the continuing experiment that is America.
But if we assert that it’s okay to do so while breaking laws, if we sanction the willful disregard of one law, what lesson do we teach? Are the laws a smorgasbord, and we get to pick and choose?
Today I will follow this law but not that one? If you don’t need to follow immigration law, why do you need to follow tax law? Or any other law for that matter? Where does it end?
Let the police drive as fast as they want. Let us all.
So, yes, there’s an emergency. 22 million illegal immigrants is a problem. And the number is growing. But, more to the point, there are a growing number of Americans who don’t seem to understand that we are – or at least we were trying to be – a nation of laws, not men. Either the laws mean something – all the laws – or they don’t. If we let 22 million violations simply dissolve away, what does that really say about us as a nation?
If we’re going to have any meaning to our nation, one that’s different from any other nation, then we must return – again and again – to the words of the preamble to the Constitution – “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice…”
That sense is repeated on the Supreme Court building, emblazoned with the words “Equal Justice Under Law.” That must mean all laws or it is meaningless.
Yes, there’s an emergency, a very real one – at its core it’s about the nature of our society: Do we believe in the law and due process? Or is it all really just about power?
Copyright 2019 Arrias
www.vicsocotra.com