Letter: Focus immigration on morals, not politics

Sometime in late spring, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case to allow President Barack Obama's plan for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA ) and, if successful, will be announced in late June with the simple words, "It is so ordered."

To do so, the justices will have to consider not only the law and the Constitution, but the pluses to the nation of their actions to prioritize available law enforcement resources, and ultimately to further the future American dreams of these many American children born under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, and those young people covered under the original 2010 DACA. These actions will not confer citizenship but will allow these children and families to work, pay taxes, go to school, come out of the shadows and openly benefit our community.

Earlier, Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush had taken similar executive actions to protect selected immigrants and their families and never had those constitutional actions questioned. In attempting to be legal, fair and compassionate, the current administration has attempted to work with Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform and even deported more than 2 million immigrants over the last several years, therefore meeting the criteria that the president "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," under Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution.

For too long, immigration has been a political football; now it needs to be about what is morally right.

George Kanuck

Bluffton

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Letter: Focus immigration on morals, not politics."