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HORIST: Dreamer issue soon to be settled

The future of millions of people who were brought to America illegally as children over many years may be settled soon.  Despite literally a lifetime in the United States, these people remain technically and factually illegal aliens.

We treat them differently than adults who, by their own choice entered the United States illegally, because they are different.  First of all, it was not their choice to come here.  They were brought by their parents or others.  They were not the ones who violated the law.  They are not the ones who might have illegally assumed fraudulent identities.  They are not among those who chose to consume America’s welfare resources.  By and large, they have been good guests – if not citizens.

Unlike their parents, the so-called Dreamers have little to no connection to their native land.  Many have never even visited the “old country.”  Many have lost their native language.  They are completely Americanized.

Officially known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) children, their presence in America has been an unresolved issue for generations.  While most reports refer to them as “children,” many Dreamers are already passing through the middle ages.

While a very small minority of xenophobic people want them all deported, that is both heartless and stupid.  The heartlessness is obvious, but it is stupid because America desperately needs more workers.  To continue to grow the economy, we must increase legal immigration – not reduce it.

President Trump has committed his administration to normalize the Dreamers permanently.  In many ways, he represents the best hope Dreamers have for a permanent favorable solution.  To understand that, one needs to know the history.

Dreamers have spent their lives living under fear of deportation.   President Reagan provided an amnesty at the time but could not get the Democrats to secure the border.  Consequently, migrants from many foreign nations continued to bring their children to America – creating a new class of Dreamers.  These are the folks we are dealing with today.

President Obama promised that the first order of his administration would be addressing the DACA issue – at the time his party controlled both houses of Congress.  He failed to keep his commitment – and when the GOP took control of the House, the deadlock on how to resolve the issue continued.  Basically, Republicans wanted to make securing the border a part of any DACA deal in order to avoid a further influx of illegal-status children.  Democrats opposed stemming illegal entry.  Thus, the gridlock.

Obama – once a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago – claimed that he did not have the constitutional power to resolve the issue by Executive Order (EO).  For reasons that have never been fully explained, Obama rejected his own counsel and later signed a dubious EO providing Dreamers with a TEMPORARY reprieve from enforcement.  That action was immediately challenged in the courts.

When Trump came into office, the case was working its way through the federal courts – a long process.  He – like with the original Obama opinion – did not believe that he had the constitutional authority to issue a similar EO – and especially while the original was being examined by the courts.

While Obama only gave temporary protection, Trump wanted the Dreamers to be normalized permanently.  That could ONLY be done by congressional legislation signed by the President.

Obama’s EO will finally be decided by the Supreme Court in the coming months – and it is believed that it will be considered unconstitutional – an abuse of presidential power.  Any similar Trump EO would have also been nullified.  Trump well understood that another EO would have only lasted until the federal courts decided the case.  He wanted a permanent solution, and that put the ball back where it belongs – in the Congress.

In terms of the DACA issue, Trump has proven to be a constitutionalist – not a king, as opponents allege.  By forcing Congress to do its job, Trump will produce a positive permanent resolution for the Dreamers.  While there are various formulas to be debated, the bottom line is that the Dreamers will achieve permanent legal status.  The most contested points will be when Dreamers might be eligible for citizenship – immediately or at some future date – and closing the border to prevent another cycle of the same problem.

Thanks to the federal courts – which hang over the DACA issue like the Sword of Damocles – it appears that a resolution will be found in the near future.  And every Dreamer should be thankful to Trump for breaking the gridlock.

So, there ‘tis.

About The Author

Larry Horist

So, there ‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of businessman, conservative writer and political strategist Larry Horist. Larry has an extensive background in economics and public policy. For more than 40 years, he ran his own Chicago based consulting firm. His clients included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. Larry professional emphasis has been on civil rights and education. He was consultant to both the Chicago and the Detroit boards of education, the Educational Choice Foundation, the Chicago Teachers Academy and the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. Larry has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress, and has lectured at colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul. He served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. Larry has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries have appeared on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by audiences for his style, substance and sense of humor. Larry retired from his consulting business to devote his time to writing. His books include a humorous look at collecting, “The Acrapulators’ Guide”, and a more serious history of the Democratic Party’s role in de facto institutional racism, “Who Put Blacks in That PLACE? -- The Long Sad History of the Democratic Party’s Oppression of Black Americans ... to This Day”. Larry currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

14 Comments

  1. texaslady

    AMERICANS WE HAVE TO TAKE BACK OUR AMERICA FROM THE EVIL CRIMINAL ACTS OF DEMOCRATS………………………..TO SOLVE AMERICAS PROBLEMS MAKE THIS CHOICE WE THE PEOPLE’ HAVE THE POWER OF OUR VOICES AND OUR VOTES, TO VOTE OUT THE ENTIRE LYING,CORRUPT, TREASONOUS DEMOCRAT PARTY COME NOV 2020, VOTE TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN AND TO END ALL CORRUPTIONS IN WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT
    “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

  2. mark

    then why haven’t they earn citizenship while being here? Yes they thought they may be granted citizenship but get it on your own, don’t wait for the promise of a politician.

    • Mike

      Mark, Shouldn’t have to point this out, but illegal immigrants cannot apply for citizenship. That is why DACA is so important….

  3. joe

    hopefully all will see the love and caring dt has for all. vote DT

  4. Richard Hennessy

    Democrats have no political incentive to work with Republicans to resolve the issue because now they have it both ways. They continue to benefit from more and more illegal entrants into the Country, and at the same time, they have the political advantage of the issue to help to convince Latinos that they are on their side, when in fact, they stand in the way of a permanent solution. Only when Democrats lose this dual political advantage is there a possibility of a permanent solution. If the Supreme Court properly declares Obama’s Executive Order improper, Democrats will finally come under pressure to actually help the “dreamers”. Obama clearly understood the political advantage of temporarily removing that pressure, and thus he did what he admitted he had no authority to do.

  5. Enough of this

    Wow. The author is so wrong on so many points. Lets take just 2. The notion that America “needs” more workers is as old and outdated as saying “there are 11 million illegal aliens in the country”. It has been proven time and again that we have enough workers. You should change your statement to say “we need more workers who are willing to work for sub-standard wages”. There is not a shortage of workers, there’s a shortage of workers willing to work for less than what’s requires to live (most legal citizens don’t qualify for entitlement programs, or democrat given freebies). Next. You say they are good people. Yes, some are but did you know that daca age is up to 35? Thirty Five years old. Many of them use welfare type things, many of them have been arrested for violent crimes as well as other “deportable” crimes. The Ellis system never fully vetted more than 10% of daca recipients! How many of the remaining 90% have major criminal records? How many were wanted by law in their home country? Right, we do not know. How many of these 35 year old “kids” came in when they were…say 16-18-20-25-30 years old? Then I read above a question asking why they have not attempted to become legal while they’re here? That says a lot about the mentality of these daca recipients, as well as the mentality of the people who are for them. Legal is legal no matter how you got here. I would support those who are in the process of becoming legal, but in no way support any of them who are not. They made their choice to stay in illegal status, not me. In closing, this article is nothing more than propaganda for the open-border activist’s.

    • Carolir

      The 11 million is an old number…I believe a recent number is 14 milliom

    • Pat

      The author needs to stay in the financial world and out of the border and illegal world. Too many of the DACA foreigners were not thoroughly vetted and now we’re stuck with not only illegal foreigners but also illegal criminals that we can’t get rid of because they and their activist supporters believe they legally belong in this country….all because of what someone else did.. If they live with their parents who never learned English….they speak their native language and many still follow their culture and allegiance to the countries of their parents. Chinese illegals can’t be deported because China won’t take them back without Chinese ID and they destroy their ID at the border. Are their illegal children DACA members?? What a mess!!!

    • Larry Horist

      EnoughOfThis. You are totally wrong on both the points you make. With virtually no unemployment — at least before the Coronavirus — we are greatly in need of workers to produce further economic growth. Of course, that means workers … not automatic welfare recipients. Every worker creates a job and that means growth 150 years ago we had 30 million citizens. Now we have 330 million. Where do you think ll the jobs came from. Also, we need workers in all classes. The is what Trump’s policy of merit immigration addresses. The vast vast majority of DACA folks are employed and productive — even at higher rates than their parents.. The solution is to legalized their status and give them a delayed — perhapst 10 years — to eligibility for citizenship. Sort of a parole period. Those who fall into crime can still be deported. that way. But any resolution of DAVA MUST secure the borders immediately and closed off virtually all border crossing. Humanitarian migration must be limited to legitimate life-and-death from political oppression or natural disaster — not just a better life or a job..

  6. Enough of this

    I forgot to mention something else. The republican’s in both the senate and house are as we argue this, pushing for more legal immigrant’s, bolstering the unconstitutional daca program, deciding on the wording of their amnesty plan….yes, AMNESTY PLAN, and several other things that have moved them to the middle left. People need to get educated on these issues, and get involved. Just complaining on some site in the comment section has little effect. x22 report, and cr podcast to start your journey.

    • Pat

      In our area, if you don’t speak both English and Spanish….don’t bother applying for a retail, restaurant, medical or educational job…or any job that deals with the public. Thanks to Clinton’s EO 13166 in 2000 that requires translators for all foreign languages, and since Spanish is becoming a first language, there are more English/Spanish-speaking Latinos working in jobs than English-only….so the businesses won’t have to provide and pay for translators to accommodate the many Spanish-only foreigners coming into the country every day. We don’t need more foreign workers….we need our English-speaking country back!!!

  7. Mike

    Larry, While I agree with the initial premise of your article, it would be heartless and stupid to deport dreamers, what you say after that is total bull. The case before the Supreme Court was brought because Trump attempted to end the EO that started DACA, and that case has made it through the appeals process, which agreed with the litigants that Trump could not end DACA. Trump has made no effort to have congress pass anything to protect the Dreamers, and if the Republicans in congress had any appetite to protect the Dreamer class, they would just bring a clean bill stating such, which is what Democrats want. DACA is not a particularly complex issue, and could be easily fixed, immigration however is extremely complex, and should not be tied to this simple bill. So, there you have it, and as you can see from most of the comments above, most of your readers prefer the heartless and stupid solution to the DACA issue….

    • Larry Horist

      Mike, I will have to see the status of the various DACA cases to see which is being addressed by the Supreme Court. But I do believe it will deal with the constitutionality of the Obama EO. The the tea leaf readers seem to belief it will be declared unconstitutional. That was Obama’s original belief and Trump’s belief. That leaves it up to Congress to fix — and it is not all that complicated. There are any number of Bills gathering dust in the cloak room.

  8. Enough is enough

    Mike, you really need to start thinking with your mind instead of your heart. You clearly ignored the many comments above that throw your hearts case out the window. No vetting = possible and proven loss of US citizen life. Allowing ages up to 35 = fraud and proven loss of US citizen life. Not making English the official language = a bi-lingual nightmare for US citizens trying to find work, and a costly thing for many companies to comply with. DACA was an unconstitutional executive order that has failed. It has been manipulated from the start. It was clearly a wedge which causes what we write here. The only solution, that you feel is stupid, is to end that nightmare for everyone who is involved. Those so-called dreamers who have started the process to become legal can stay. Those who have not can go, and go along with the so-called parents who illegally brought them here. The so-called parents that brought them here did so to help themselves stay. That in my and most clearly thinking people call, child abuse. Using a child for personal gain is just plain sick. Right, it was not the child’s fault, but it is the child’s fault for not starting the legal process to stay when they found out what their rotten parents did. And most of all, a 35 year old potential criminal is not a child. I can spar with you all day long, and without calling you any names mi amigo.