Immigration: Another Excuse to Defy and Defile the President

It has been a thorn in the side of America, and the world for that matter. Immigration, people seeking refuge and a better life have created an ongoing dilemma, especially for the political class. 'Strengthen the border.' 'Build a wall.' 'We must be compassionate and welcome all who yearn to be free.' These are some of the cries that invade our psyches daily.

First a brief overview of immigration history; let’s start in 1986. President Ronald Reagan signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which legalized approximately 3 million undocumented immigrants, and was to have created greater border control provisions which were never enforced resulting in an explosion of illegal immigration over the last thirty years.

In 1990 President George H.W. Bush issued an executive order, which can be said to be the progenitor of the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Bush’s intent was to iron out some of the kinks and wrinkles in the Reagan 1986 IRCA law, and he sought to delay the deportation of family members of immigrants who had gained legal status by IRCA. Bush’s action did not confer legal status; it deferred deportation and was meant to prevent families from being separated. The order was up for renewal periodically.   

In 1993 President Bill Clinton used the office to maintain and if needed improve on the previous administrations' efforts on illegal immigration, but also concentrated energy on the public’s fear of illegal immigrants by placing limits on what they could and could not do.

In 2005 during the George W. Bush administration, several bills including The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, and The Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Reform Act were being considered but did not come up for a vote. In 2007 the congress discussed what was called the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act; its mandate sought to secure borders, economic opportunity, and immigration reform. It provided for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and enhanced border enforcement, and restructured the visa criteria for high-skilled workers. The bill eventually failed to pass.

In June of 2012, then-President Barack Obama, through an executive order issued the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Its mandate provided protection from deportation and work authorization for young children brought to America, raised here and educated, but always with the possibility of being deported. DACA affected about 740,000 children.

President Trump wants a border wall, merit-based immigration, has placed DACA on the chopping block, and its continuation into the hands of Congress. There is now also a zero-tolerance policy on illegal immigration, and I think we should all know the rest of the story,

The current crisis at the border and its repercussions have further exacerbated the division in this country and created tremendous controversy and outrage. The Russian writer Anton Chekhov once wrote, “Love, friendship, and respect will never unite people, as much as a common hatred for something” - or someone. Whatever your position on immigration, however, legal or illegal, the current hysteria as far as those in the media and on the Left are concerned, has nothing to do with the children being removed from their families. This is just another nefarious scheme, a manufactured effort and opportunity to undermine and hopefully destroy a hated president. Most of the mainstream liberal Democrat media and its hardcore punditry derides the president and accuses him of being heartless and akin to a dictator. This is nothing more than hatred's suppression of unbiased reporting, substance, and journalistic integrity.

Mr. Trump and his administration are bearing the brunt of outrage and threats to their personal safety, but what of the immigrant parents' responsibility. They crossed up to two thousand miles of unknown territory through Mexico, a hostile nation, placed their children in danger and harm’s way, exposing them to the elements, both natural and criminal. Many of the parents did not accompany their children; some traveled alone on caravans.

On MSNBC and CNN, hosts and commentators, politicians, and hysterical self-righteous liberals, in league with the entertainment industry, indulge in some of the most egregious and hate-filled rhetoric. The Nazi and concentration camp invective flowed forth out of the mouths of unhinged leftist ideologues like a raging polluted river. Even when a story is reported, and proven to be inaccurate, these same unhinged stick to the script as though nothing has changed.

The clergy, including most of Christendom, have jumped on board the media bandwagon and have, for what they consider the righteous and moral reason, denounced the administration's zero-tolerance policy. It seems to me, however, that the religious leaders have been much more outspoken on the social issue of immigration than they have ever been, especially in matters of the dignity and sanctity of life of the unborn. It is no longer contested that most of the mainstream media, entertainment, and radical leftist groups, through propaganda and false reporting seek to destroy this president, his administration, and even his family.

The divide continues to grow. It’s to be expected, however, that people of opposing ideological mindsets will tend to disagree on issues; this is not uncommon. But with the election of Donald Trump, something more profound occurred in people that went beyond the normal; I believe it can best be described as darkness within, a deep festering disdain and contempt for this president that knows no bounds and eats away at these sorry souls as each day passes, and the immigration issue has exacerbated this to an even greater degree. Pent-up frustration and anger by the president's detractors have resulted in their taking out frustrations on members of the administration; over the past couple of weeks, we have witnessed some of the most brazen, disgraceful, and uncivil behavior from the Left.

The most glaring aspect of the immigration issue and the discourse in America in general is how the Left has not only sunk to the depths of depravity; they have also reached the height of hypocrisy. They are aggrieved and scream, demand and accuse. "Save the little children they cry," and yet this begs the question: "Where are all of these compassionate, self-righteous hypocrites when the innocent unborn are being torn from their mothers by the hundreds of thousands each year in abortions?" Does it all have to do with the pictures and the cries of little children the media broadcasts daily? But they are oblivious to the screams of pain in the deaths of the innocent babies in the womb that few see or hear, out of sight and out of mind.