In the three and a half years since Barack Obama took office the American Dream has turned into an American nightmare. Listening to him grant immunity to illegal immigrants in his DREAM Act speech makes one wonder whether the President, who seems very concerned about the future of young illegals, ever considers the predicament young law-abiding American Dreamers presently find themselves in thanks to him.
President Obama is either clueless or unconcerned that millions of Americans presently live in fear of never securing a good paying job, owning a home, or being able to adequately provide for their family. Whichever - whether he is clueless or unconcerned, neither option bodes well for America.
Lest we forget, young Americans are the primary ones who "study in our [taxpayer funded] schools, play in our neighborhoods" and proudly "pledge allegiance to our flag." Children born and raised in this country are true "Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way," but they are also the ones being deprived of a future by a President who gives preference to illegals while ignoring the plight of the citizens he was elected to protect.
In his Rose Garden statement, President Obama encouraged the nation to put ourselves "in the shoes" of those brought here as children by parents and who have lived here more than five years. Instead of encouraging Americans to step into the shoes of illegals, maybe Barack Obama should step into the shoes of struggling Americans first. It's in those shoes that he would find that the real dreamers are those born and raised in this country.
Americans are the ones looking for jobs that no longer exist; Americans are the ones who have driver's licenses but are so short on cash it's hard to gas up the car, and those born in this country are the ones who watch as every other ethnicity except unhyphenated-American receives the greatest percentage of college scholarships.
In his DREAM Act announcement an emphatic Barack Obama contended that illegals should be given immunity because "it makes no sense to deprive talented young people who for all intents and purposes are Americans equipped to do the job -- young people who want to staff our labs or start new businesses or defend our country simply because of the inaction of politicians who refuse to close the border." It's hard to believe that the President didn't hear his own words and realize that, unlike those "for all intents and purposes" Americans, actual Americans are the ones victimized by the negative impact of uncontrolled illegal immigration and his poor economic policies.
According to Barack Obama, over the next few months the Department of Homeland Security will be taking steps to "lift the shadow of deportation" from young illegals. While 12.7 million Americans remain unemployed, the President's administration will be making sure "eligible individuals who do not present a risk to national security or public safety" -- and inevitably some who do -- will be freed from the shackles of illegality. In addition, Dreamers will be given "temporary relief from deportation proceedings" and the ability to "apply for work authorization" in an already nightmarish job market.
Working around Congress and going it alone, the President said "This is a temporary stop-gap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people." What he forgot to mention is that this goal burdens and diminishes the hopes of "talented, driven, patriotic young" Americans who could have 800K fewer jobs available to them, therefore being pushed even further back in the unemployment line.
Granted, the nation is in need of "comprehensive immigration reform...reform that takes seriously our border security and lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and [legal] immigrants." But that reform should be hashed out free of partisanship, with the legislative branch of the government crafting the law, and designed in a way that the priority is to benefit the best interests of the American people. In the meantime, the economy, not amnesty, should be the main focus so that young people who were born and raised in America can find a job.
Yet despite the struggle Americans endure, Barack Obama seems unfazed as he continues to promote conditions that benefit everyone except the American worker. In the Rose Garden the President restated his commitment to illegals, saying, "And as long as I'm president, I will not give up on this issue, not only because it's the right thing to do for our economy -- and CEOs agree with me -- not just because it's the right thing to do for our security, but because it's the right thing to do, period."
Obama maintained that our nation's most "cherished values" will be realized "[i]f there's a young person here who has grown up here and wants to contribute to this society, wants to maybe start a business that will create jobs for other folks who are looking for work, that's the right thing to do." That little blurb sounds as if the President believes that illegals brought to this country by law-breaking parents are a potential route to employment for unemployed Americans who were born here. If he does, he couldn't be more wrong!
What this country really needs is an American DREAM Act where, by upholding the law, jobs are freed up and filled by American Dreamers who are presently unemployed. A bill that says if you were born here, willing to pay for your own college or serve the land of your birth in the military, you should be the first one given the opportunity to work, start a business, or create a job, not an illegal alien.
Jeannie DeAngelis
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