What Law Did He Adjudicate?

District Judge John Bates has ordered the government to restart the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  The DACA law was never passed.  Congress declined to pass the DREAM Act so President Obama issued an executive order for the government to enforce immigration laws as if Congress had passed a watered-down DREAM Act.  Let us ignore the legality of the president enforcing a law that was not passed and accept that the executive order was a temporary workaround.  However, executive orders are entirely under the discretion of the sitting president.  Obama countermanded many Bush executive orders and Trump can do the same with Obama's executive orders.  The president is not bound by the executive actions of his predecessors.  There is no law for a judge to rule upon.  He is ruling upon discretion that is completely in the hands of the executive branch.  Unless Congress has passed a law that changed the discretion since Obama implemented DACA, the court has no role if Trump used that same discretion to eliminate the program.  This is obviously judicial overreach and will clearly be overturned on appeal.  This is judicial activism.

A Pardon is Not Amnesty

According to the Washington Times, "law abiding undocumented immigrants" are going to lobby President Obama for pardons to inoculate them from what Trump might do come January.  Let's say he does.  He pardons 750,000 Dreamers on January 20th, a few hours before he leaves office.  Congratulations, your illegal presence in the United States up to that point is hereby forgiven.  However, if you are still in the United States on the 21st, you are again illegally in the United States.  Illegal immigrants commit their crime every day.

 

Obama's Dreamer faux-amnesty was achieved through executive action and can thus be abolished via executive action.  I did get a laugh out of the 'law abiding' descriptor for people who broke immigration law.  These oxymoronic euphemisms are both tragic and hilarious.  Of course, replacing 'undocumented immigrant' with the far more accurate term of trespasser would undermine the phrase; law abiding trespassers just doesn't work as well.

Who needs Congress?

Today, President Obama passed the Dream Act.  Congress proved unable to pass it so the President decided to do it on his own.  One wonders what other laws Congress has failed to pass that the President will start enforcing.  There has been talk of the EPA imposing Cap & Trade.  Regardless of one's party affiliation, this should be of great concern.  That Nancy Pelosi came out in favor of this lawlessness shows that she doesn't understand the precedent or, more likely, she doesn't care as long as she gets her way.  If she doesn't squawk when a Democratic president usurps the legislative authority of Congress, what will she say when a Republican does the same?

There was much complaint that Bush did end runs around Congress.  However, he asked for and received Congressional approval for his invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.  Obama did not get approval for Libya, thus breaking the War Powers Resolution.  It is worth noting that the Congress passed that in 1973 because Nixon bombed Cambodia without Congressional approval.  Bush failed to pass his Amnesty through Congress but did not thereafter attempt to impose it executively.  Obama did not see the failure of Congress to pass the Dream Act as an impediment to enforcing it.  Congress refused to pass legislation to save GM and Chrysler with federal loans.  Both Bush and Obama provided those loans anyway; that's embezzling.  Misappropriation of funds is an impeachable offense but Congress let them both get away with it.  Congress is required to pass a budget each year and yet has not passed one in 3 years.  Congress is complicit in making itself irrelevant.

In Ancient Rome, the Senate was the ruling body of the nation for centuries.  The Consuls - there were two elected each year - were analogous to the Presidency.  The power of the Roman Senate was overtaken by the increasing power of the consuls until the positions flipped.  Senator became a ceremonial role, a sinecure for the elites or a prize to be given by the emperor.  If the Presidency can pass law and congress calmly allows such usurpation, then who needs congress?  Are we still a republic?