It didn’t take long. Fourteen states and four governors, led by Texas, filed a complaint in the Federal Court in Brownsville, Texas seeking to nullify the President’s Executive Order relating to immigration. Texas has sued the Obama Administration thirty-one times. The complaint hits all the “fear” buttons. It includes a lengthy discourse on how the border has been overwhelmed by unaccompanied children, blaming it on President Obama, even though the legislative scheme that made it attractive for children to present themselves at the border, was signed by a Republican president. Never mind, it is President Obama’s fault. What it has to do with this Executive Order though, is hard to understand. The suit predicts doom and gloom. It is claimed; these orders will encourage a flood of illegal immigration to the United States and overwhelm state resources.
The sad thing is that there are very legitimate concerns and issues to be decided as to what is the scope of Executive Power. The complaint seems more focused on making a political statement, cleverly quoting the numerous statements that President Obama has made in the past, which imply that his executive power should be more restricted than he is claiming today.
To my mind, all this proves is, that protagonists on both sides of the issue, prefer to posture and make public statements that are convenient to the moment, without engaging in serious discourse. We must hope that true leaders on both sides will take ownership of these issues and engage in a way that benefits the polity. The complaint filed in Brownsville, Texas was not a good start.
