The ICE Queen Cometh

The Democrats are at it again! The Speaker of the House told a group of Illegal Aliens in San Francisco that the raids on suspected illegal aliens in homes and the work place need to be stopped. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) was expressing a sentiment designed to appeal to Hispanic citizens and prospective new Democratic Party voters, hoping to wrangle them like the other cattle her party currently drives to the polls. The method for eliciting the applause from the crowd was fear. She used it effectively to paint a government she is a significant leader in as a bunch of jackboot thugs, interested in only ripping children from the arms of their illegal immigrant parents. She heavily focused  on the "middle of the night" raids as her example.

The truth of the matter is that most immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) raids are in work places, not homes. There has already been significant pressure by Pelosi and Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano to curb worksite enforcement of immigration rules through intimidation and other threatening actions. Their actions have effectively paralyzed enforcement of existing immigration law. It is tantamount to telling illegals they don't have to worry about the current laws which make it a deportable misdemeanor to enter or remain in this country without a valid visa.  The current and exploited loophole in the 14th amendment to the Constitution allows those people born here to remain here as birthright, natural born citizens. The amendment was written to give former slaves the same legal standing as whites after the civil war, and was not applied to immigration law. The concept of restricted immigration was not something the amendment's framers considered, as there were no formal restrictions on the number of immigrants allowed in the US at the time.  The concept of immigration law in the US really didn't start until 1875 when the Supreme Court ruled that immigration policies were the purview of the US Federal Government. This was codified in 1891 when the Federal government assumed the task processing EVERY immigrant seeking to enter the US. It therefore holds that any restrictions later placed on the flow of immigrants to this country (particularly at the end of the 19th century and after WWII), would potentially run afoul of the natural born citizen language in the amendment.

ICE agents are enforcing the laws that Congress passed and the President signed into law. Immigration must be done in an orderly and legal fashion. Poverty and desperation in another country are not justifiable reasons to choose not to adhere to the rules. Millions of immigrants have come to this country using the rules. Pelosi's rhetoric panders to the passions and fears of people (illegal immigrants) who should not be here. If we need additional workers, let's create a guest worker program that rewards people who come through the gate, not through the fence. Let us also create a constitutional amendment which defines US citizenship as those born in this country of US citizens, those born in this country of legal US immigrants and those born in foreign countries of legal US citizens.  The founders may have foreseen a country that would be a beacon to all other nations, but they certainly did not comprehend that the government they bled and died for would take the rule of law and turn in on its head, just to garner a few votes.  Perhaps its time to put the Speaker's rhetoric on ICE.