American dream takes wrong turn

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Uh, never mind. That famous quote, which comes from Emma Lazarus’ sonnet, of course adorns the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor.

But for 800,000 young undocumented immigrants, the American Dream took on a decidedly nightmarish possibility Tuesday.

That’s what happened when President Trump sent his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, out to announce that the administration was rescinding the DACA program, put in place by President Obama to offer protection to these young people - many of whom have never known another home.

DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival. It offers protection for children who were brought here illegally by their parents. It allows them to live and work without fear of deportation.

That all went out the window the second Sessions took to the microphone to carry the water for the president.

The attorney general noted the program was being rescinded, focusing not on the merits of the program and protections of the immigrants, but instead on the constitutionality of Obama’s unilateral edict, taken after Congress refused to act.

Sessions also regrettably regurgitated two largely dubious claims – that DACA opened the door to a wave of violent immigrants, and that they are taking jobs away from American citizens.

With Houston still recovering from the wrath of Harvey, Hurricane Irma taking aim at Florida, and the world trying to deal with the wrath of Kim Jong Un in North Korea, President Trump decided now is the time to take up DACA.

The president indicated he was taking the action now to fend off a promised lawsuit from groups who have doggedly opposed the measure since President Obama created it by executive order in 2012.

Congress could not – or would not – take action then. There is little reason to believe they will now, despite so many politicians tripping over themselves in the hours after the announcement urging Congress to settle the matter once and for all.

Among them are Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, and Congressman U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7.

Both agreed that the “Dreamers” were not at fault, but both made clear President Obama had overstepped his authority, with the hope that Congress will now fix the situation by doing what it is supposed to do – legislate.

“Congress writes laws and the executive branch enforces them,” Meehan said in explaining his problem with the way Obama addressed the issue. “Congress should address this issue. These young people are here through no fault of their own … Congress can and should resolve this in a fair, just and bipartisan way.”

Who thinks that is going to happen?

In the meantime, 800,000 young immigrants face the possibility of their American dream ending in deportment.

Later Tuesday night Trump tweeted that if Congress did not address the matter, he would “revisit” it.

The ball is now in Congress’ court. If they couldn’t get anything done on health care, or just about any other issue, what makes any of them believe they will reach any kind of agreement on the most contentious issue of immigration.

Democrats likely will seek a stand-alone measure fixing DACA, while Republicans are likely to try to tie it to funding for the president’s dream of a wall on the southern border. The clock is now ticking. These undocumented immigrants – who have largely represented the embodiment of the American dream – have contributed mightily to the American economy.

They overwhelmingly hold down jobs, pay taxes and ingrain themselves in American society, all without the benefit of actual citizenship.

Congress has six months to act. Actually, they only have a month, since that is when those in the country illegally actually will have to apply for an exemption.

What do you think the chances of Congress getting anything done are?

Those tired, huddled masses aren’t entering New York harbor.

They’re wandering the halls of Congress.