Deportation Raids: Constitutional?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyoUw3o4vwU

Deportation Raids: Constitutional?

by Jake MacAulay

I believe we can all agree that despite our shortcomings the United States is likely the greatest country to live in.

This, of course, is due to the blessings of Almighty God and the unashamed dedication our Founding Fathers had to Him and His Law. They believed in a doctrine of sacred “God-given Rights” and what is termed “the Rule of Law,” which would defend and ensure those sacred rights. 

It should be noted that the height of American greatness corresponds directly to the Constitution, which is the foundation of the laws that govern our land.  

As Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), pointed out recently:

“From the beginning of our country’s history, we’ve believed in the rule of law, which has provided opportunity and prosperity to all who reside within our borders.  We are the envy of the world – which is the reason we face illegal immigration rates not seen by other nations year after year.” 

Judd then astutely pointed out:

“Consider three of the countries from which so many people are fleeing today –Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.  All three countries are rich in natural resources. All three countries have seaports, which allow for trade with other countries. They all have an able and willing workforce. So why aren’t they prosperous? Because all three countries have governments that fail to uphold the rule of law.” 

In an attempt to restrain this illegal immigration problem, President Trump has resorted to Obama-era tactics called deportation raids. These raids seek individuals who have already gone through the entire court system and were ordered to leave or be deported months ago for many reasons, including crimesthat they committed. 

We have often seen federal lawmakers and agencies take actions that are beyond the limited and enumerated powers granted to them by the terms of the U.S. Constitution. I have regularly, if not frequently, raised objections to our federal government using this false premise of the rule of law to encroach on individual liberties and rights.

So, it must seem strange for you to hear me raise my voice to favor the authority of the federal government, but that is what I find myself doing today. 

You see, in the case of deportation raids, it is the federal government who is acting within the jurisdiction granted by the Constitution. Adversaries of these constitutional actions are interfering with the proper and valid duty that is delegated to the federal government pursuant to Article IV, Section 4, of the Constitution.

Let me be clear that the reason I would side with the federal government, or why I would not do so, is determined by whether or not their actions line up with the Constitution.

The Constitution is the test.  

The Constitution is the American rule of law. 

I agree with George Washington who, in an address to a group in Boston in July 1795, affirmed, “…the Constitution is the guide, which I will never abandon.”

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