THE PROCESS IS CRITICAL!
2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 430
Like many of you, recently I have been reading about a federal judge declaring illegal a revised version of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which prevents the deportation of thousands of immigrants who were brought to this country at an early age. I believe that People of Good Will would not want to deport young people in this situation, many of whom can’t even remember living in their foreign countries of birth. So why would a judge even consider declaring it illegal? The answer is the process by which DACA came into being. It was not passed by Congress, but instead was implemented by a decree by President Obama’s Administration and without the protections of opportunities for public comment, etc. And that is and should be considered to be illegal! The same thing applies to Congress delegating to a President the power to Declare War, and the same thing applies for numbers of federal administrative agencies passing “regulations” that often are enforced as laws. The Executive Branch of Government is not legislative, and the Doctrine of the Separation of Powers is critically important to our system of government! Thus the Executive branch of government is tasked with enforcing our laws, but not creating them. Only the Legislative Branch can do that. And only the Judicial Branch can say what they mean. (The same analysis applies, and should be held to apply, to the COVID lockdowns a few years ago!)
Actually, President Biden has called upon Congress numbers of times to pass legislation to allow these “Dreamers” to stay in our country, but Congress has failed to do so. So until this is done, the courts are right to call a halt. And if it takes a popular and humanitarian situation like this one to call attention to the critically important limitations upon the Executive Branch of Government, so be it! In other words, the process of making laws is critically important! And I hope you agree.
Quote for the week: “I offer my opponents a bargain: If they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.” Adlai Stevenson, 1952
Judge Jim Gray (Ret.) Superior Court of Orange County, California 2012 Libertarian Candidate for Vice President
Please listen to our radio show entitled All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray as we discuss timely ssues and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches. The series has concluded, but you can still hear any edition On Demand at https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/3883. And, by the way, these 2 Paragraphs columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty. In addition, my new book with the same title as my radio show is now available at Amazon.com., as is my wife Grace’s and my new novel centered about School Choice entitled 2030 KIDS: We are the Rising Heroes of the Planet. Please read and discuss them with your friends, and send in a review.