Constitution Trampled in Callous Vote-Getting Play

By Joe Guzzardi
July 30, 2012

One of the United States citizenship test questions is “What is the Constitution?” The answer: “The nation’s highest law.”

In recent years, the citizenship process including the test has been watered down to the point of meaninglessness. And coincidentally, the sitting president whose job it is to uphold the Constitution has instead trampled it for his own selfish purposes, namely to get re-elected On June 15 President Barack Obama, operating unilaterally outside of the Constitution, announced his executive order that removes the already microscopically slim chance of deportation for illegal immigrants up to age 30. Allegedly, they came to the United States with their parents as young people under circumstances over which they had no control.

But who really knows the events surrounding their illegal entry? What has become abundantly clear in the weeks since Obama’s edict is that no standards have been set to determine who meets the loosey-goosey age, education and clean criminal background requirements. To process on a timely basis the estimated 1.4 million applications is a task beyond the federal government’s ability. Furthermore, in the unlikely event that serious due diligence would be exercised, and there are no signs of that to date, the time frame would easily exceed a year.

Observing the administration’s immigration maneuvering in recent days, what’s shaping up in the White House is a move to issue a blanket amnesty rather than go through the inconvenience of doing thorough identity checks. In fact, 73 different amnesty advocates have put forth a list of demands to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano that include a “no interviews” clause.

Late last week, Napolitano faced the House Judiciary Committee to respond to dozens of unanswered questions about the specifics of Obama’s plan. With thinly disguised contempt for Chairman Lamar Smith and Immigration Subcommittee chair Elton Gallegly, Napolitano dodged or gave curt replies. Gallegly, noting that 14 million are unemployed, asked “how many…2-3 people or 200,000-300,000 people…” of the 1.4 million would qualify for work authorization. Napolitano: “Don’t know.”

Nothing is known—or admitted—about the aliens’ educations, either. Smith wondered if DHS would require certified school transcripts. Napolitano stated that “different types of documents” could be acceptable.

In other words, five weeks after Obama’s unilateral decision to grant work permits to formerly unemployable (because of their immigration status) aliens, Napolitano claims not to have a clue as to how many will be issued. Napolitano is also, according to her, in the dark about what proof of scholastic achievement will satisfy DHS. Defiance of this magnitude insults all Americans and is doubly hurtful to the unemployed.

One thing that is clear is that by the time DHS gets its act together, it will cost taxpayers at least $585 million—sounds low to me—to crank out the paperwork in the first two years and more than 1 million new DHS employees will need to be added to staff. A $465 fee would be required from an alien who applies for a “Request for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.” But, predictably, the fee could be waived under “certain circumstances.”

In the meantime, Mexico is leaving no stone unturned. On July 23, Mexico’s 50 U.S. consular offices co-hosted national DREAMers Day to insure that every potential amnesty candidate has the necessary paperwork.

The Obama administration’s dramatic shift on immigration is a callous political gamble to shore up his wavering base. Americans get the shaft so that pro-amnesty candidates can gain ground among the so called critical Hispanic voters.

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Joe Guzzardi is a Californians for Population Stabilization Senior Writing Fellow. His columns have been syndicated since 1986. Contact him at [email protected]