Thursday, March 12, 2015

Enforcing All the Laws

Column for week of March 2, 2015

     A number of Republicans and some Democrats
complained when the Obama administration failed to fully
enforce national marijuana laws in Colorado.  This was nothing
compared to the fire storm when the Obama administration
announced that it wouldn't enforce immigration laws against
some illegal immigrants.  How dare the president refuse to
enforce the law of the land?  How did he dare flout the law
and fail to carry out his constitutional duties?

     One could as fairly ask, How dare congress ask the
president to enforce more laws than anyone, even with all the
resources of the nation at his disposal, could begin to enforce? 
The laws enacted by congress and regulations adopted pursuant
to those laws add up to 200,000 or so pages.  It would be a
safe bet that no one has come close to even reading all of
them.

     If every law were fully enforced, everyone would be in
jail for life.  The last one convicted would have to lock his
own cell.  Someone has to decide which laws to enforce and
who to enforce them against.

     Prosecutors' discretion is nothing new.  It has been
around as long as prosecutors.

     I attended high school about 15 miles from Grand
Rapids.  Everyone in school seemed to know where the
brothels were in Grand Rapids.  They were on C Street.  I'm
not quite sure where that was.  I never doubted that if I had
asked I would have found out.  Some students admitted to
(bragged about?) being there.

     Don't even ask me to believe that the police and
prosecutors didn't know about the illegal prostitution.  I don't
know if they were compensated for their blindness.  For
whatever reason they chose not to enforce the law.  This is but
one small illustration of the ancient tradition of prosecutors'
discretion.

     We wouldn't have 11 million illegal aliens in this
country if many someones hadn't elected not to pursue them. 
When they decide not to pursue some, they also decide which
ones to pursue.

     The congress critters who are complaining about the
president haven't appropriated enough money for the president
to attempt to deport all illegal aliens.  Neither did they pass a
law telling him which ones to deport first.

     All Obama did was change how prosecutors' discretion
will be exercised.  It isn't amnesty.  Congress, or a future
president, can change the priority to whatever they wish.  All
Obama did was say to some illegal aliens, you don't have to
worry about being deported right now.

     Most of them won't ever be deported.  Sending them all
home at once would so disrupt some businesses that it would
cause a recession.  If the unemployed in this country wanted
the jobs the illegals have, they could have had them.

     The US immigration law is an unworkable mess.  Both
congress and the presidents, past and present, bear part of the
blame.  The president and congress critters are all far more
interested  in scoring points pandering to certain votes than in
enacting sensible, workable immigration laws.

     The last time congress faced up to the immigration law
problem it granted amnesty and kicked the can down the road
by continuing unrealistic, unworkable immigration laws.  Well,
we have caught up with the can.  It is time for congress and
the president to give it another kick and see how long it takes
to catch up with it again.

     Having foreign workers here legally and above ground
would, at a minimum, be far less of a problem than building an
underground culture of illegals.  Building a fence to keep them
out won't work.  For one thing, a third or so of illegals enter
legally and merely fail to leave.   The fence also works as a
check valve.  Instead of working and going home, foreigners
are more likely to stay.

     One thing is certain.  As long as voters demand
unworkable immigration laws, politicians will deliver them.

aldmccallum@gmail.com
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Copyright 2015
Albert D. McCallum

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