Certainly it is true that other presidents of both stripes in the past have used executive orders but almost all of those have been to clarify how existing laws, lawfully passed and enacted by Congress, were implemented. On the other hand Obama has used his "pen and phone", as he haughtily puts it, to circumvent constitutional law and deprive Congress (the legislative branch) of their Constitutional mandate to craft laws which the president (the executive branch) can either sign into law or veto.
After this particular executive order, Texas and 25 other Republican-led states filed a suit in federal court in Brownsville, Texas. Last year, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with the states against the federal government.
So now the case is seemingly deadlocked 4 to 4 in the Supreme Court. Justice Anthony Kennedy stated that Congress, not the president, has the authority to decide which groups of immigrants can stay lawfully in the United States. By way of clarifying his opinion of whom is tasked with this responsibility he stated, "It is a legislative act, not an executive act."
But simply handing out jobs to those who broke the law by entering this country illegally, in a criminal manner against a sovereign state, borders on stupidity not to mention giving away the store. Low to medium wage earning Americans, both union and non-union, who were born and bred here are crying out for those jobs.
In a statement, Todd Schulte, who is the spokesman for a pro-immigration reform group founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "We will continue working to pass a permanent legislative solution. In the meantime, we hope the Court will quickly cement these vital programs to help millions of American families live free from the fear of deportation."
Excuse me? Exactly in which way are trespassers holding foreign and not USA citizenship status "American families?" Only in the sense of that old linguistic canard which is often stated as, "We should all be called Americans, those of us who hail from North, Central, or South America." Somehow I doubt that is what Schulte had in mind. Rather, that sly dog is inching his foot surreptitiously onto that slippery slope that serves to mold through insinuation and repetition the opinions of those who prefer to be spoon fed by the media rather than doing their own homework.
Because hey, we're not as smart as Zuckerberg who has a big stake in low-paying job globalization.
In short, we have two huge long-reaching considerations going into what SCOTUS decrees. First, do we finally set in stone the precedent that a sitting president can disregard the Constitution and act as Emperor? And second, going forward, are illegal trespassers equally or more entitled to American jobs that taxpayers, natural-born citizens, and veterans are?
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