Sovereignty

The last two days have seen an interesting rebuking of the liberal forces that advocate for open borders and groupthink among nations.  Of course, I'm talking about the Supreme Court in the U.S. letting a lower court decision stand that Obama's executive order regarding amnesty (it's more complicated than that, but that's what it is) stand.  BTW, if Scalia were still alive it would have been 5-4 in the same direction.  And then this morning we learned that the Brits have voted to leave the European Union (EU).  I think both of these decisions, one by the courts and by the people, indicate that there is still a strong sense that sovereignty matters.  That countries have the right and obligation to make their own decisions regarding their future.

In our case, it's no secret that immigration is a mess.  That Congress and the Executive Branch haven't taken steps to reasonably solve this issue is shameful.  The maddening thing is that it isn't rocket science.  We are a nation built by immigrants.  We need to continue a strong immigration policy that allows people to come to this country to pursue their dreams.  After all, we are the place of dreams.  But we shouldn't be a place where anything goes.  Illegal immigration is illegal.  Now I don't know how the laws have evolved that set the number of visa's we award every year, but we clearly need to look to expand the number, make it easier, put programs in place that protect both immigrants and citizens, protect our borders, etc, etc, etc.  But it can't get done if the people who make the laws aren't talking to each other let alone the people who execute the laws.  So immigration continues unchecked and we all pay the price.  The strain on infrastructure and impact on the culture is immense.  So there need to be rules.  I think that's why Trump resonates with so many.  He obviously isn't going to try and enact the draconian measures he has voiced.  But he will do something.  And that's his attraction.  He will do something.  The tragedy is that Obama could have done something.  When he was elected he had a Democratic Congress.  He could have come up with rationale immigration laws and gotten them through, especially in the early days when there was still good will.  But he has proven that he either doesn't know how or can't work collaboratively to achieve anything.  It's all my way or the highway.  Well, the courts have said, "not so fast".  So we're still stuck in limbo with thousands of good people being negatively affected.  This is at his doorstep.  

And now the Brits decide to leave the EU.  There are all kinds of dire predictions regarding economic and security consequences.  But you know what?  Sometimes doing the right thing is more important than your pocketbook.  There are a lot of alliances that both of our countries are entangled in, and most of them don't particularly benefit us.  I think the EU has gone seriously off course.  Their immigration policies alone are broken badly.  If you're not sure what I mean, visit Paris, Berlin, London or any other European capital.  Parts of all those cities are ungovernable.  So I think the Brits just finally decided that the direction that the EU is going isn't positive.  And they didn't see the union benefiting them.  So they are out.

Both of these issues have big implications for the West and our way of life.  Are we going to be governed by laws that we believe are beneficial to our country or are we going to give up our sovereignty?  That's the fundamental question.  And it appears that there are still folks around that believe sovereignty matters.