Immigration. When most Wisconsinites hear this word, they often think about a problem that only affects states such as Texas, Arizona and other border states where the prevalence of illegal immigration is much higher than here in the Midwest. However, Wisconsinites need to stop thinking that this issue only affects those who live in the South. In Wisconsin alone, there are 85,000 undocumented immigrants, three-fourths of which originate from Mexico. Without a doubt, it is imperative that Wisconsin and our nation acts to fix this problem because it affects everyone who lives here. Even though we all agree that something must be done, we, as Republicans, disagree with President Barack Obama that the president should be able to mandate “his solution” without consent of the American people or Congress.
It’s been about two weeks since Obama appeared on national television detailing his executive order, which would allow up to five million illegal immigrants to stay in the country and obtain work permits, that would overhaul our nation’s immigration system. His action should not be taken lightly and could set a dangerous precedent for future presidents.
Presidents have issued executive orders since the founding of our nation. President Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to embrace the use of this action by using 1,081 executive orders. Since then presidents have used them for a variety of functions including desegregating public schools and the racial integration of the military. Many recent executive orders have dealt with foreign policy issues or other administrative issues that do not need to go through Congress.
Obama’s recent executive order though goes far beyond the powers granted to the president. Obama’s order will effectively grant citizenship to five million undocumented immigrants. Through this action he will be setting a dangerous precedent for future presidents to unilaterally change laws without Congress’s approval. Ironically, Obama had previously stated that he did not have the authority to pass such a measure. When asked in 2011 about an executive order for immigration reform Obama said, “There are enough laws on the books by Congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system that for me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as president.”
His actions are unprecedented and completely ignore how our government is supposed to work. Congress is elected by the people to pass laws while the president’s function is to ensure that these laws are followed. The 2014 elections showed that the American people do not agree with the president’s policies including his policies on immigration. He has totally disregarded the American people and their opinions by proceeding with this executive order. Instead of reaching out to Republicans following the election to find common ground on immigration reform he arrogantly disregarded the election results and enacted his own policy. Obama’s first election focused on bringing bipartisanship back to Washington yet his actions continue to alienate the Republicans from working with him.
Supporters of this action have been arguing that previous presidents have issued amnesty to illegal immigrants. These previous actions though were following a law passed by Congress and affected a much smaller population. Obama’s actions were broad and overreaching and set a dangerous precedent for future presidents. Our system was not set up to govern by executive action. What President Obama has done ignores the age old School House Rock song about the three branches of government. Saturday Night Live recently did a skit on this whole situation and how Obama’s order ignores the way our government has operated since its founding.
Immigration reform does need to happen, but not in the way proposed by Obama. Numerous 2016 Republican presidential contenders including U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville; U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida; and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have called for a “pathway to citizenship.” Republicans agree that reform needs to happen but want to make sure that the borders are secured first. But by going about it on his own, Obama has thrown away any chance he had at working with a Republican Congress. With their new majority, Republicans are ready to work to solve the problems facing America, but Obama’s actions have halted any chance of immigration reform being passed through Congress.
In response to Obama’s actions, our own Gov. Scott Walker joined governors and attorney generals from 17 different states in a lawsuit to stop Obama’s actions. Even though Walker agrees that the topic of immigration must be tackled, he argued that this executive action was a dangerous power grab by the president and must be stopped. Hopefully, efforts like this will result in a limitation of federal power and not allow for the growth of it. Ensuring that immigration reform comes from the Congress would ensure that American remains a democracy and is not ruled by a single leader through executive actions.
Charlie Hoffmann ([email protected]) is the chairman of the College Republicans and a junior majoring in economics and journalism.
