There is one tiny fact missing from the Washington Post editorial calling for the Congress to allow those brought here illegally by their parents as children to remain in the country:
Democrats, having failed for more than 15 years to enact legislation to allow dreamers to stay in the country, now threaten to block a must-pass spending bill, potentially shutting down the government, unless the measure is amended to resolve the impasse. Republicans say that’s unacceptable.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on dreamers, most of them in their teens, 20s and early 30s. Owing to the administration’s decision to terminate Obama-era protections for them, about 30,000 will lose their protected status each month starting in March unless Congress acts. That means that in addition to becoming eligible for deportation, they will also lose permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which the Trump administration axed, that enable many of them to enroll in college with in-state tuition subsidies, work legally and obtain valid state driver’s licenses.
and that is that they are here illegally. It is in fact a misdemeanor under the U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Act for them to be here without presenting themselves to a duly constituted representative of the federal government.
The argument against deporting them is primarily that they lack a mens rea, i.e. intent. I believe that argument would find better support if all sides would acknowledge the simple reality and that the same argument cannot be made for the parents of the “Dreamers”. There is such a thing as moral hazard.
I’ve long supported some accommodation for the Dreamers but I also think that, whatever standards are decided on, they should be enforced rather than engaging in special pleading for every single illegal immigrant.
