The Nightmare of the Dream Act

I have a friend from high school whom I teasingly call a flaming liberal. She of course returns the barb by calling me a heartless conservative. The truth is we simply disagree on most political and many social issues, but respect each other’s opinions as if not valid, then at least thougtful and well considered.

The latest exchange between us centered on Obama’s announcement that he will not seek to deport some young people who had the misfortune of being brought to this country illegally by their parents. His position that those who are here through no fault of their own, who have broken no laws of their own volition and who merely want to remain where they have spent most of their lives is to her a wonderful act of humanitarianism. That these young people should not be  disadvantaged because of their parent’s mistakes, as long as they have been otherwise law abiding, is the centerpiece of her argument.

I admit, she has a valid point.

However, my argument rests on the simple fact that we are all ‘differently advantaged’ because of the choices of our parents. Who we are, where we live, our access to everything from education to jobs to healthcare to a secure future are all predicated on where we began in life, decisions made for us by our parents.

Kids who grew up in the most crime-infested parts of the country did so because of the choices of their parents. Perhaps the parents were actually a single teenage mother, a grandparent or they were raised without any biological famalial involvement and lived their formative years in foster homes. All of these are circumstances for which no one would hold a child responsible. It is a simple fact that these kids will have a harder row to hoe in life, because of the choices made by those who created them.

There are also kids who grew up in enclaves of wealth and security, with the presumptive understanding that they would attend the best schools, have a car available to them the moment they received their driver’s license, and never have to wonder or worry where their next meal was coming from much less if it would come at all. Again, the realities of their present situation and the opportunities for their futures are a result of the decisions their parent’s made for them.

The point is, life is not fair. We’re not all toeing the same starting line when the gun goes off. Often, we’re not even on the same track or in the same arena. This is simply reality, and we can, should and do debate how to address these social and societal inequities.

My argument is when there are no more children and young adults who had the good fortune of being born here or who were brought here legally by their parents, only then should we be spending our precious limited and ever-dwindling resources on the rest of the world. I am absolutely all about ending child hunger and disease and leveling the playing field for all children, but with two caveats.

One, start at home. When there is no longer such a thing as a child going to bed hungry, or not having a bed in a safe and secure place here in America, then we can address the suffering of children in the rest of the world.

The second precondition is even more controversial than the first, because it addresses the root of all our problems in this society. It is called personal responsibility, a vile, dirty word to too many in this country.

You are responsible for yourself first and foremost. Part of that means you are responsible for the choices you make and the decisions you take that affect your children. If you choose to bring your children to a place where they have no legal protection, no legal rights, and are in fact felons by their and your presence in this country, you and no one else is to blame.

While this may seem cold-hearted, I want to remind everyone of the tens of thousands who are patiently waiting around the world, in the most deplorable conditions, often at risk of losing their lives on a daily basis, for the opportunity to come to this country legally.

As always, my thoughts go to our young men and women currently serving in our military and those who have served. Young veterans have the highest unemployment rate of any group in this country, and the majority of them happen to be in the same age group as those the president is intending to help with his latest amnesty plan.

Saying our vets and servicemen and women are angry that they will now have to compete for the few jobs and educational opportunities out there with those who are not even legally here is an understatement of epic proportions. They fought, put their lives on the line and many will carry the wounds of war for the remainder of their lives, in the name of a Constitution and laws some politicians are choosing to ignore.

I simply do not understand the thinking that rewards those who cheat, lie and break our laws.

Wait, I remember now. It’s an election year.