‘Parole in Place’ is abusive: Opposing view

March 1, 2017

By Michael Hethmon

In trademark crusading style, President Trump has begun to fulfill campaign promises to combat illegal immigration by restoring the rule of law. This has put the president in the crosshairs of powerful interest groups in the legal community that form the Democratic political base, and millions of people from both parties who cynically benefit from cheap foreign labor and the collapse of enforcement.Early last month, this coalition obtained injunctions in federal courts that disrupted and delayed the president’s executive orders. These injunctions are very dangerous judicial hyperactivism.

Congress set standards for how aliens may enter the U.S. and how they must behave. Since 1996, Congress has repeatedly sought to restrict “discretionary” relief from deportation for unlawfully present aliens. There are virtually no limits on how the president must treat aliens seeking entry. For aliens who are legally admitted, the Constitution provides a sliding scale of due process. By contrast, U.S. citizens are fully protected by the Bill of Rights.

The injunctions are the direct source of the “confusion” that has been maliciously attributed by the news media to a supposed alt-right cabal in the White House. Constitutional experts see that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit showed judicial contempt for the constitutional authority of the president over immigration enforcement, foreign affairs and national security. Unlike the abuse of “prosecutorial discretion” that permeated Obama administration policy, Trump has only exercised powers expressly delegated to him by Congress.

The Trump approach is consistent with humane and sustainable “attrition through enforcement” policies long advocated by true reform groups such as the Immigration Reform Law Institute. Illegal aliens have enjoyed a decades-long rampage through our nation. Curtailing abusive extralegal policies like “Parole in Place” can be as cost-effective as expanded detention in incentivizing aliens to self-deport. Cleaning up the moral, legal and socioeconomic mess is a messy job, but one that must be done.

Article also published at: Michael Hethmon, ‘Parole in Place’ is abusive: Opposing view, USA Today, Mar. 1, 2017