United States: The Biden administration recently launched a scheme to give green cards to illegal aliens who are married to US citizens.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services has renamed the program from “Parole-in-Place” to the “Keeping Families Together” program.
You might wonder, “What’s in a name?” According to the reports, it seems that the folks at USCIS haven’t read any Shakespeare.
They believe that by simply giving the program a cute name, they can garner support from the American public and approval from American courts.
The program, whether called PIP or KFT, goes against the federal statute governing immigration, specifically the Immigration and Nationality Act. The law mandates that foreign nationals enter the United States lawfully and maintain lawful status before applying for a green card.
Although this rule has a few minor exceptions, they are constrained and explicitly defined in the law. The KFT program has been illegal from the beginning. Recently, a federal court issued an injunction, temporarily halting the issuance of any green cards through the KFT program.
Moreover, KFT is also an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers. The president has no authority to unilaterally amend the laws passed by Congress by executive mandate merely because he dislikes them.
Implementing a program like KFT requires Congress to pass a new statute, which is unlikely. The anti-borders contingent has long sought an amnesty for illegal aliens, but it’s not popular with the public.
Despite repeated attempts, no amnesty bill has been passed by Congress.
The real significance lies in the intention behind the program’s new name. In reality, the PIP to KFT transformation is just illegal immigration activists recycling the bogus “family separation” claims that have worked so well for them in the past.
“Parole-in-Place” is a confusing term that suggests a bureaucratic process for certain migrants, as per reports.
“Keeping Families Together” conveys positivity while subtly casting doubt on those who separate families, even for valid reasons. This figure of speech falls apart when examined in real-world situations.
Families may experience separation in a society governed by the rule of law. This could occur when a family member is convicted of a crime and imprisoned or a parent is drafted to fight in a war for the United States.
Yet, there’s little media commentary suggesting we should abandon criminal law enforcement or national defense simply because they cause families to be separated and unhappy.
The reality is that migrant families are often temporarily separated when they unlawfully enter the United States. This occurs for administrative convenience as well as the safety of the individuals.
But that separation is a direct result of the migrant’s decision to break the law.
It’s not a punitive measure. Individuals deported from the United States are not punished; they are being returned to their home country, where they have the right to live and work legally.
Reportedly, any person with even half a brain should be asking the following question: “Why is it the responsibility of the United States to keep law-breaking foreign families together?”
It simply isn’t.
And any tradeoff that requires most Americans to forego secure borders so that a tiny minority of citizens who are married to illegal aliens can stay with their spouses isn’t just unfair; it’s completely insane.
It could be argued that undocumented immigrants who marry US citizens present a unique situation or that it would be unfair to the Americans involved if they were separated from deported undocumented immigrants.
The argument is based on flawed logic. Suppose US citizens want to stay with an undocumented immigrant spouse. In that case, they can leave the United States in any foreign country where their spouse has a lawful right to reside.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what anyone calls the KFT program. It’s simply an unacceptable amnesty disguised as being somewhat legal. It will succeed at only one thing: rewarding foreign lawbreakers for entering the country illegally.
The 1986 immigration amnesty, as well as programs like it, have shown that they do not just offer relief to a specific group of supposedly sympathetic migrants with family members who are citizens, according to the reports.
Instead, they encourage more potential illegal immigrants to cross the border and wait for the next amnesty.
Suppose the US wants to keep migrants and their families together. In that case, it should encourage them to stay home or legally migrate to America.
Should illegal immigrants be deported immediately?