In Infantry Officer Candidate School, we were taught that, whenever your men come under fire, it is critically important to give a command. It doesn't matter if you holler - hit the dirt or climb a tree or drop your pants - just give a command, even if it is wrong! Just make a decision . . .
It doesn't matter if you think the President is a corrupt usurper of Congressional power, determined to be the Emperor, OR if you think the impotent Congress has had enough time, since they haven't made any decisions on immigration since the Executive Orders of Reagan in 1984 or Bush in 1991 - a few numbers always helps.
Since 2007, the number of undocumented persons in this country has dropped from 12.2 million then to 11.5 million now. As the Mexican economy has improved and as their birth rates have decreased, their in-migration has dropped from 700 thousand annually in 2001 to only 160 thousand in 2012. In fact, the number of undocumented Mexicans in this country dropped from 7 million in 2009 to 5.6 million in 2012. (Of course, more immigrants are coming from Central American countries now, instead of Mexico. Almost all undocumented workers in Virginia are from Central America.)
In 2012, there were 8.1 million undocumented workers who were either working or looking for work in our country. That was 5.1% of our total labor force. We're hardily being overrun. This is not a metastasizing economic cancer that is growing. It is a moral issue.
Making a decision on immigration is not rocket science. It doesn't take twenty years to study. It just takes courage.
Certainly, it would be much better if the Republican leadership of Congress would personally agree to a deadline of March 31st, when they will control both houses of Congress, but if not . . . well, it just takes courage.
I assume we will have a Republican president in 2016, but we will still have a useless, gerrymandered Congress, because that cannot be fixed until after the next census in 2020. I hope he will use his executive authority to make decisions that Congress cannot make . . . if he has the courage.
It doesn't matter if you think the President is a corrupt usurper of Congressional power, determined to be the Emperor, OR if you think the impotent Congress has had enough time, since they haven't made any decisions on immigration since the Executive Orders of Reagan in 1984 or Bush in 1991 - a few numbers always helps.
Since 2007, the number of undocumented persons in this country has dropped from 12.2 million then to 11.5 million now. As the Mexican economy has improved and as their birth rates have decreased, their in-migration has dropped from 700 thousand annually in 2001 to only 160 thousand in 2012. In fact, the number of undocumented Mexicans in this country dropped from 7 million in 2009 to 5.6 million in 2012. (Of course, more immigrants are coming from Central American countries now, instead of Mexico. Almost all undocumented workers in Virginia are from Central America.)
In 2012, there were 8.1 million undocumented workers who were either working or looking for work in our country. That was 5.1% of our total labor force. We're hardily being overrun. This is not a metastasizing economic cancer that is growing. It is a moral issue.
Making a decision on immigration is not rocket science. It doesn't take twenty years to study. It just takes courage.
Certainly, it would be much better if the Republican leadership of Congress would personally agree to a deadline of March 31st, when they will control both houses of Congress, but if not . . . well, it just takes courage.
I assume we will have a Republican president in 2016, but we will still have a useless, gerrymandered Congress, because that cannot be fixed until after the next census in 2020. I hope he will use his executive authority to make decisions that Congress cannot make . . . if he has the courage.
