There’s a good reason comprehensive immigration reform hasn’t seen the light of day.
It’s not because of partisanship, since both Democrats and Republicans controlled the White House and Congress in that span. It’s something much more basic: lack of common sense.
Strident hardliners want an all-or-nothing approach, from deporting twelve million illegals (impossible) to having totally open borders (equally impossible). Their inability to compromise has killed any meaningful reform.
Then there’s the reluctance of party leaders to change the status quo, since they gain tremendous political benefit from non-action. Special interest groups, from Big Business to labor unions, line their pockets to keep things just the way they are.
The one positive immigration development — the successful Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program — has just been axed by the Trump administration. The result has been an uproar, since the lives of 800,000 productive people, who had legal residency and legitimate employment, have been thrown into chaos.
Let’s look at the controversy surrounding the DACA “Dreamers.”
Quick background: DACA, instituted by the President Obama, deferred immigration action on children brought to America by their illegal immigrant parents. It did not grant legal status, but instead protected those who qualified from being deported. It also provided work permits for two years, which were renewable.
Now to the issue:
1) The premise for rescinding DACA is that it’s unconstitutional. Trump administration officials stated that President Obama made an end-run around congress by instituting something that should’ve been under the purview of the legislative branch. That’s very likely true. That said, the president has broad discretionary powers when it comes to immigration. So, given how unpredictable judges can be in interpreting the law (with some actively legislating from the bench), the jury is still out on DACA’s constitutionality.
2) The White House has rolled out many good policies, but most have been inexcusably bumbled due to incompetence and lack of foresight; the DACA decision was no different.
Rather than creating panic-inducing uncertainty, especially after months of promising “big heart” compassion and telling Dreamers they shouldn’t worry, the president should have worked quietly with Congress to formulate a replacement program before his announcement. That way, there would’ve already been a plan in place to ensure a smooth, less-stressful transition. Doing it backwards was like discontinuing the space shuttle before having a replacement — a decision that still haunts America.
3) Give President Obama credit: he led on the immigration issue when Congress would not. Maybe he overstepped his bounds, but he did what he thought was right. It certainly wasn’t the first time a president had gone into uncharted territory. And recent presidents, including Eisenhower, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, all instituted executive actions protecting segments of undocumented immigration. The lesson: if more elected officials did their job instead of nothing, then presidents wouldn’t push the limits of their office.
4) Constitutional concerns aside, several questions: Why these people? Why now? And why not focus on more pressing immigration issues?
According to reports, 91 percent of Dreamers are employed, and most, if not all, have no criminal record. They are paying taxes and contributing to the economy, while remaining out of the shadowy underworld.
But are they taking jobs from Americans? Maybe some, but for the most part, that is a fallacy. We may not want to hear it, but far too many Americans are unmotivated to seek work, let alone maintain a job. For some, anything not paying $125,000 for a forty-hour workweek is beneath them. Instead, the overly-coddled Entitlement Generation, which expects everything but works for nothing, is content to sip lattes and eat avocado sandwiches, while posting social media sweet nothings every 30 seconds.
Sorry, but you can’t take a job away from someone who doesn’t want to work. The market seeks productive people with a strong work ethic, and if legal Dreamers fill that bill, then good for them. What could be more capitalistic, indeed more American, than that?
4) It was not the Dreamers’ choice to enter America illegally, and the vast majority are productive, law-abiding people, many of whom only speak English. Where is the compassion in throwing them back into dangerous, unknown lands?
The solution is two-fold: first, President Trump must work with Congress to pass legislation that effectively continues DACA, despite the inevitable howls that will come from his hardcore base.
Second, remembering that America grants resident status to over one million legal immigrants per year, we should:
— Build a border wall utilizing non-violent prisoners and illegal immigrants, which would solve prison overcrowding and save billions. Funding could be derived from drug seizures and foreign aid diverted from Mexico. The wall would also curtail drug traffickers, human smugglers, and terrorists.
— Institute self-deportation by employing stringent law enforcement measures on businesses, and eliminate lavish public benefits.
— Mandate businesses utilize the free E-Verify system. Any company in noncompliance should face stiff penalties and potential criminal prosecution.
— Illegal immigrants convicted of crimes should serve their time and be deported. Countries refusing to accept their citizens should be cut off from foreign aid.
— Document illegal immigrants by issuing long-term work visas; permanently deny them citizenship and the right to vote; require them to pass a criminal background check; and mandate taxes and fines.
Done. Crisis solved with common sense and compassion. Now we can deport Kim Jong-un to another planet.
Chris Freind is an independent columnist, television commentator, and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, Freindly Fire Zone Media. Read more reports from Chris Freind — Click Here Now.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.