×

Holding DACA illegals to the law of the land

The Greek mathematician Archimedes, in 250 BC, stated the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Likewise, the shortest distance between freedom and tyranny is the destruction of the rule of law.

The rule of law is the principle that the law should govern, not the mandates of the politically connected. What this means is, people need only to answer to the law and not to the edicts or orders issued by government officials.

The rule of law is a barrier against arbitrary despotic power. As Friedrich Hayek pointed out in “The Constitution of Liberty”, the rule of law is not all that is necessary for a free society but it is a necessary prerequisite for a free society. Kings, potentates, and dictators have historically gone unrestrained in their use of force against their fellow man. In philosophical circles this is known as the “rule of man.”

In response to this problem, philosophers began to conceptualize a solution that rulers are restrained in some way by a higher authority, the law. When a leader is restrained by these rules, we refer to this as the “rule of law.”

However, the principle begins to falter when there are lawmakers that seek to subvert and disregard existing law. The rule of law remains in force only to the extent that existing laws, until legitimately changed or revoked, are executed and adhered to by all citizens as required, no matter the position they have attained.

Enter DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) et al. This is a text book example of the politically powerful’s disregarding of the rule of law by creating and applying a carve-out for a subset of people, in this case the subset are criminals. What I mean is that these individuals are held to a different standard than the rest of the population which violates the letter and spirit of the rule of law, one of the our most important founding principles.

The Founding Fathers risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor fighting a war against the most powerful nation on the planet to achieve independence from a “rule of man” mother country. Having risked everything to win freedom, they created a government based upon principles that were an attempt to ensure that dictatorial powers would never again reign over this country. This principle is enshrined in the Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, “…nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Equal protection simply means that the law will be applied to everyone equally. Government officials do not have the power to pick and choose to whom they will enforce the law. Individuals that have benefitted from the unconstitutional presidential fiat known as DACA are not immune to our immigration laws because they illegally came here as children. And to allow that violation of the rule of law to stand, is to move closer to arbitrary rule by the politically connected. This arbitrary rule is commonly referred to as despotism.

We have immigration laws on the books. Immigration is the lone purview of the federal government as defined in Article I, Section 8 the United States Constitution. The Supremacy Clause, Article VI, Clause 2, establishes that the Constitution and federal laws made pursuant to it, constitute the supreme law of the land. What this tells us is that under our system of government, state and local laws and Presidential edicts do not supersede federal law. Thus DACA and sanctuary cities are illegal as hell and the public officials, judges, and citizens who promote and defend this illegality should they themselves be held accountable for their actions and prep-walked into Leavenworth.

We have all heard about conspiracy to commit a crime, harboring a fugitive, aiding and abetting a fugitive from justice among other laws, each of which could be applied to those who hide illegal aliens from the authorities even and especially the judges who are doing so. Compassion for DACA recipients is not a get out of jail free card from violation of these statutes. If we are to maintain what little freedom we have remaining, we cannot let this brazen attack on the rule of law go unmitigated.Area resident Jack Loesch is a longtime teacher at the University of Akron whose columns appear periodically in the Salem News. Read his website at www.TorchnFork.info. He may be reached at: TorchNFork@frontier.com

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today