Here Comes the Judge

By James R. Edwards, Jr. on May 7, 2013

The federal judge hearing the ICE agents' case against President Obama's de facto amnesty through executive fiat is proceeding at the very same time the U.S. Senate is considering a massive amnesty bill that includes the DREAM amnesty for those who claim to have come to the country as young children.

It's also interesting that so far the judge has ruled in the agents' favor — and against the administration. A final ruling is expected soon.

Chris Crane, chief of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents' union, testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee's marathon hearing last month, essentially decrying the bill and reprising his members' beefs with mass legalization. Mr. Crane made it clear the common theme here is that amnesty (either by the legislature or, illegitimately, by the executive) endangers immigration officers, throws their sworn duties out the window, undermines the rule of law, and emboldens and empowers foreign lawbreakers against those Americans on the front lines protecting us.

In fact, both the Obama-Schumer-Rubio amnesty bill and the administration's de facto amnesty directives turn justice and fairness on their heads. Just as the executive amnesty orders ICE agents to solicit amnesty clients, so too would the legislative amnesty currently on the table. Those against whom removal has been initiated would gain reprieve — making U.S. law officers into facilitators of rewarding alien lawbreakers.

With a little luck, the judge hearing the ICE case in Texas will issue an injunction before the Senate can bring up its ill-conceived concoction. That could help cooler heads in what once was non-ironically known as the World's Greatest Deliberative Body to prevail upon their colleagues to think this amnesty proposal through.

It's not only about how the amnesty was achieved; undoubtedly, the administrative fiat route is utterly lacking in legitimacy. But what the amnesty is, substantively, counts, too -- however it might be enacted.