March 28, 2024

Order or law, which nation do we want to be?

When I was in primary school, I had the privilege to consider Francisco Luna my friend. His father was a member of the Ecuadorian military who had fallen out of favor with top brass. Francisco’s mother fled to Miami with her two children to escape potential persecution. When the family arrived in the states, 9-year-old Francisco’s mother only spoke a few English phrases and relied on her son’s growing vocabulary — thanks to the U.S. public school system — to translate family affairs.

When they moved to Iowa during Francisco’s seventh grade year, my friend picked up the violin, joined the Goodrell Middle School soccer team and became a popular member of the student body. Following graduation, Francisco enlisted in United States Navy and has been serving in some capacity for nearly 10 years.

President Barack Obama’s executive order issued Nov. 20 shielding millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation has stirred constitutional controversy. But it also begs the broader debate of who we are as a people when welcoming those seeking a better life into our society.

Mr. Obama’s actions have been repeatedly compared to that of former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Both expanded the definition of undocumented persons allowed to remain in the country, although their executive orders were expanding an existing definition defined by established legislation. Mr. Obama’s order has been described as “prosecutorial authority,” telling immigration officials to prioritize deportations to those with criminal backgrounds.

The president’s actions could be found unconstitutional, but their effect would undoubtedly advance the condition of a large group of people living in our society — not to mention better our economy and government’s bottom line by getting 11.5 million people on the tax rolls. Most are working in low-paying jobs, and some are being manipulated into below adequate pay due to their illegal status. Some risked their lives traveling thousands of miles over rough terrain to be a part of the United States.

On CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday, host Bob Schieffer’s interview with Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) revealed an interesting signal for where the new Republican majority might be headed with immigration — and their response to the president’s order — in the new Congress. The rhetoric of impeachment has cooled to a potential censure, and Labrador focused almost solely on improvements of boarder enforcement, speaking very little on revoking actions defined in the presidential directive.

Whether the president’s actions were politically risky or “extra-constitutional,” as many Americans feel, his executive order might pressure the Congress to pass the comprehensive reform which House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) refused to bring to the floor for a vote after it was approved with a 67 vote super majority in the Senate.

Arguments for both ideological positions hold weight, but these political games are playing with the lives of 11.5 million human beings — most trying to establish some type of life for their families and a sense of purpose. To throw someone back over a border after years of hard work and contributing to the U.S. economy hardly seems fair. Whatever we as a people decide, we must remember the futures of 11.5 million people are in our hands. Will we rise to the test of our own cultural morality?