Immigration policy an issue that absolutely refuses to be rushed

There are Latino activists these days who are p-o’ed at Democrats, who they think sold them out in their political resolution to bring to an end a shutdown of the federal government.

Abandoned w/o resolution?

Those activists wanted the shutdown to extend indefinitely as a means of pressuring Republican politicos into taking seriously the issue of immigration reform, in particular the fate of those people whose existence in this nation is at risk due to President Donald Trump’s desire to dump Barack Obama’s legacy measure – the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

LIKE MOST SPECIAL-interest groups, they have their focus on one measure, and could care less about the big picture.

So when Democrats in Congress went ahead and voted to approve funding to keep the federal government open (at least until Feb. 8), they weren’t trusting of Republican promises that they really would conduct serious discussions about DACA and immigration in general.

When Trump followed up quickly by letting it be known his thoughts about those issues hasn’t changed one bit, it has the Latino activists feel like nothing will be accomplished.

An asterisk on the resolution?

Personally, I’m not as hung up on this concept as many of these activists – even though I have just as intense an interest in immigration issues as they do.

PERHAPS IT’S BECAUSE I realize that it isn’t going to be the president or Congress who ultimately will decide the fate of those young people who were brought to this country by their parents without valid Visas or other immigration papers.

If DACA (the program that allows those undocumented to register with the federal government and gain work permits while progressing toward eventual citizenship) is truly to remain in place, it most likely is going to be because the Supreme Court of the United States will – in effect – ram it down the president’s throat!

Shutdown merely first of many fights

To me, the more significant move was the Supreme Court’s announcement Tuesday that it would allow a federal court ruling out of San Francisco that thwarts Trump’s efforts to abolish DACA to proceed directly to the high court.

Instead of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9^th District (also based in San Francisco). As far as when the Supreme Court in Washington will take up the issue, we could learn something as soon as the court’s conference Feb. 16.

TRUMP, OF COURSE, is the guy who had wanted to use his executive order powers to abolish DACA, and had hinted he wanted it gone by early March.

That deadline, which was thwarted by the ruling of U.S. District Judge William Alsup, could wind up being relevant after all – if the Supreme Court winds up putting the rush on their efforts to overturn the measure.

Or, the high court could wind up surprising us by ruling that Alsup had the principles of the law on his side when he struck down Trump’s partisan effort to do away with DACA – whose greatest offense in his and the minds of conservative ideologues is that it was something desired by Obama.

D.C. Times always thinks GOP wins

As for what is bound to happen to DACA (and immigration reform in general), I’ll be the first to admit there are many amongst the Republican caucus who will view anything that harms the interests of these young people trying to make a life for themselves here as a political victory for themselves.

ANYTHING THAT ALLOWS those young people to do anything that benefits our society is something they will be determined to view as detrimental – more specifically as a benefit that was “stolen” from a young person they’d prefer to view as a “real American.”

Although the truth is that those individuals aren’t willing to work as hard to achieve greatness in life, and want to think the ethnic origins of their descendants entitle them to something in life.

A concept I personally find to be un-American to the max!

And one that the justices of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., will have to resolve for the good of our society. The sooner the better, so that we can progress to the higher levels that we ought to be capable of achieving, but can’t because the nativist elements of our society seem to be determined to ensure no one else makes them look weak by surpassing them.

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