A development today reported by Politico ought to send shudders down the spine of those who care about our representative system of government. In an article titled “More Senate Democrats urge Obama to delay immigration order,” we learn that Senate Democrats—instead of opposing the President’s executive amnesty—urge him to issue it after they face voters in November. As one office relayed to Politico: “Obama should use his executive authority to make fixes to the immigration system, but after the November elections.”
The only thing that is more shocking than Senate Democrats’ support for the President’s planned executive amnesty is the cravenness of asking him to proceed beginning the day after the midterms. Once again, powerful politicians are colluding with powerful interest groups to deny you, the American citizen, the protection of your laws and your voice in government. They don’t care what you want, or what you think—they scorn and mock our good and decent citizens for wishing their laws to be enforced.
Never in recent memory has the divide between the everyday citizen and the political elite been as wide as it is now.
Just today, the President reiterated his commitment to implement an executive amnesty that would include work authorization for millions of people who entered illegally or illegally overstayed a visa—allowing them to compete for any job in America. His planned action would also reportedly include a massive boost to the already-huge supply of low-wage labor brought into the U.S. for large corporations.
The immigration debate comes down to several central questions:
– Does our country have the right to control its borders and decide who comes to live and work here?
– Do citizens have the right to expect and demand that the laws passed by their elected representatives be enforced?
– Should American workers get priority for jobs and wages?
Any Senator who believes the answers to these questions are ‘yes’ must support the House-passed bill to block the President’s planned executive amnesty—and demand Leader Reid call it up for a vote. Not one Senate Democrat has done so.
A sovereign nation establishes rules about who can enter, work, and live within its borders. In every imaginable way, the President has worked to dismantle these rules—on the border, in our courts, through our visa system, through our asylum system, through our exit-entry system. And with this planned executive action, the President proposes to scrub away what remains of these rules. And Senate Democrats will have been partners in its commission.
Jeff Sessions is a United States Senator from the State of Alabama. Follow him on Twitter @SenatorSessions
