Emperor tells illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows"

The American system of government [Is dis a system? Ed.] is one of checks and balances. To prevent any one person -- a dictator, a king, a prime minister -- from being able to exert too much power, the executive (of which the President is Chief) is supposed to work with the legislature (Congress), with both branches under the careful watch of the judiciary. The current proprietor of the Excited States, Barack Hussein Obama, once promised that he would never abuse his power as CEO. "I am not an emperor," he said.

Walt guesses the Prez had his fingers crossed behind his back when he said that. Speaking on the idiot's lantern last night, President Obarmy unveiled expansive and unprecedented executive actions to spare from deportation nearly five million (5,000,000) people who are in the country illegally. He does so "by the powers vested in me", in the face of furious opposition from Congress and contrary to the wishes (as understood from public opinion surveys) of millions of people who are in the USA legally.

What Mr. Obama is not doing is granting an amnesty to illegal immigrants. In America, even an emperor can't do that. He is merely "suspending" the enforcement of the existing immigration laws against 5 million of the 11 million -- mostly parents and young people -- for as long as he is Emperor [President, surely! Ed.], that is until the end of 2016 at which time things revert to the status quo ante.

Mr. Obarmy's excuse for ruling by decree is that the US immigration system is broken -- hard to argue with that -- and what he really wants is for Republican solons to focus their energy not on blocking his actions, but on approving long-stalled legislation to reform the system.

The Prez said that "tracking down, rounding up and deporting millions of people isn’t realistic." No arguing with that either, since the authorities gave up trying long ago, frustrated by decisions of liberal judges who have ruled, for instance, that it's wrong (and doubtless racist) to stop people and ask them for identification. You'll find examples in Mark Steyn's After America, recommended by Walt recently.

The vehement reactions of Republicans, who will have control of both houses of Congress come January, made clear that if the Emperor wants a fight, they'll give it to him! House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner (rhymes with "gainer", not "loner") who has refused to have his Republican members vote on broad immigration legislation passed by the Senate last year, said Mr. Obama's decision to go it alone "cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left."

Walt urges all illegal immigrants to take advantage of the six weeks or so of the de facto amnesty, and "come out of the shadows". Run -- don't walk, run! -- to the nearest immigration office or police station and identify yourselves. That way the government will know where to find you... when the time comes...

Further reading: "How Barack Obama's presidency has come undone". In this piece, written before last night's imperial decree, the CBC's Neil Macdonald analyzes how the Prez held out hope and promise, only to fail to fulfill almost all of his promises.