Being more confident with your position on immigration
To get to the Truth about who legally controls immigration policy in the US we will have to dip our toes into a little more history than you may think necessary. But if you are like me you need something solid to anchor your foot to do any pushing back against the DC Government encroachment then you will need this history. There is nothing like history to validate a position.
Most people today incorrectly think that powers over immigration are in the hands of the Executive Branch of the DC Government, namely President Trump. Even Small Government Conservatives believe the DC Government Legislators hold power over immigration. And given the “laws passed” the headlines generated, and the news stories that have been written over the past 137years it is no surprise why the confusion prevails. However, I would like to make the case; that the powers over immigration morphed from control by each State to the DC Government through steps that were completely unlawful.
Let us demonstrate this position with a thought experiment: Fred knows that Bob is going on a very extended vacation to the Bahamas. When Bob departs Fred moves into Bob’s house telling the immediate neighbors that he is house-sitting. The other neighbors just think someone new has moved into the neighborhood. People see Fred coming and going from the house for two years and no one suspects that Fred is doing anything wrong.
For two years Fred exercises powers of ownership that he does not legally hold. No one complains, no one stakes a claim on the powers that Fred has usurped. When Bob returns from his two-year vacation and finds Fred living in his house, does Bob have to go to court to evict Fred? No. Bob merely reports a trespass violation to the proper authorities and Fred is taken out and perhaps jailed. That is maybe what should happen to the DC Government violators.
If the anti-immigration folks will pause for a time from their calls for more immigration control, and absorb a short lesson we will clear any confusion as to who has the real power over immigration policies. On October 19, 1781, The British surrender to the Continental Army at Yorktown. [Yes, we have to go back that far.] On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris is signed ending the War of Independence That Treaty converted the thirteen British colonies into thirteen independent self-governing States. [read "States" here as independent Countries.]
Even before the surrender these thirteen British Colonies combined in an effort to knit themselves into a Confederation drafted and approved the "Articles of Confederation". This first attempt at a Confederation was not completely functional.
After the Treaty of Paris was signed a Constitutional Convention was scheduled to fix the Articles of Confederation. The Convention was attended mainly by two groups. There were Government Limiters hereafter called GL. They favored a limited Federation, and they were real Federalists. However, the Government Growers hereafter called GG favored a controlling strong Central Government but they called themselves "Federalist". The State Delegates debated many issues. Most of what the GG (calling themselves Federalist) proposed were soundly rejected by the State Delegates, and therefore, the GL prevailed, and the thirteen States ratified a "federal" Constitution as we can read it today.
In the Constitution, no powers over immigration were delegated to the Executive Branch. Additionally, no powers over immigration were delegated to the Supreme Court. [Now stay with me here.] This may be new to you. The powers over immigration were not even delegated to the DC Government Legislature. In other words, in 1787 the only governing powers were held by the States, and the States were not willing to delegate any powers over immigration to the DC Government.
In the Constitution, no powers over immigration were delegated to the Executive Branch. Additionally, no powers over immigration were delegated to the Supreme Court. [Now stay with me here.] This may be new to you. The powers over immigration were not even delegated to the DC Government Legislature. In other words, in 1787 the only governing powers were held by the States, and the States were not willing to delegate any powers over immigration to the DC Government.
In the Constitution, there are just seven words in Article 1 Section 8 clause 4 where the States delegated the only power over people coming to the United States to the DC Government. The power they delegated to the DC Government Legislators was, "To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization," [That is all that is said in the Constitution about people migrating to the US.] And let me remind you here about the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution (part of the bill of rights) clearly says, [read this slowly and thoughtfully.] "The powers not delegated to the United States nor prohibited by it [the Constitution] to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
At this point, I am sure some will say, “Between 1789 and today there must have been some laws passed, or some Supreme Court case decisions that conferred some powers over immigration to the DC Government.” That, gentle reader, is not the case. What has just been described is the period of time that Fred was living in Bob’s house without authority.
The DC Government has been exercising powers over immigration without authority. The Constitution was ratified in 1789, in 1882 the DC Government Legislators passed the first unconstitutional immigration law. And there was no Bob to say get out of my house. Please note that was almost one Century, almost 100 years with States the only holders of power over immigration.
The DC Government has been exercising powers over immigration without authority. The Constitution was ratified in 1789, in 1882 the DC Government Legislators passed the first unconstitutional immigration law. And there was no Bob to say get out of my house. Please note that was almost one Century, almost 100 years with States the only holders of power over immigration.
Bob was not around to remind the States of their powers. You see, the States being very jealous of their powers had included in the Constitution a guarantee that the DC Government would not usurp state powers. That protection can be found in Article VI of the Constitution. It states that laws passed by Congress and signed by the President are null and void and have no power if they were not passed in "pursuance to the Constitution". This means that laws passed by the DC government legislators and signed by the President HAVE NO POWER if the law extends the DC Government's power into an area that had not been a power delegated by the States to the DC Government during ratification. Read it for yourself in Article VI of the Constitution.
Now dear reader there is a way around that limitation. If the people of the US really want powers over immigration to shift from the States to the DC Government the Constitution included in Article V the steps necessary to AMEND the Constitution. No such amendment has been submitted or ratified by the States.
I am sure the anti-immigration folks will continue to rant about the horrors of "illegal immigration. But I am hoping that they will recognize that it is they who are advocating lawlessness; because none of the three branches of the DC Government have any powers over immigration.
In conclusion, the ONLY legal powers over immigration are State powers, PERIOD. It is time for Bob to come home and discover Fred exercising ownership powers where none exists. It is time that powers over immigration are returned to the States. Think about it, if the power over immigration is spread over the Legislators and Governors of 50 States competition between the States will generate the “Best Solution” to the immigration question, much better than a monopoly power carried out by the DC Government.
Let me leave you with this; anti-immigration folks are advocating for a government that has the power to give them what they want. However, that same powerful government will also have the power to take from them all that they have.
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