originally published 1/16/2019
Benjamin Franklin supposedly described our new form of government to a citizen as “a republic, if you can keep it”. A republic is a sovereign nation where power resides in elected individuals representing citizens, and where government leaders exercise power according to the rule of law. The debate over whether to build a wall along our border with Mexico is no longer about the wall. It is about whether we are still a republic.
During his campaign, President Trump demonized immigrants and refugees as rapists and murderers then claimed that his wall would keep them out – all of it untrue. He didn’t include money for the wall in his budget, a version of which was approved in a bi-partisan vote. The President had promised to sign it. But he reneged on that after FOX News pundits and wall-zealots demanded it. Republicans caved in to meet his demands. Democrats didn’t. Rather than accept Democrats “yes” to his original agreement, the President proudly proclaimed that he would shut down our government until he got his way; and in that case he kept his word.
The House of Representatives, now under Democratic leadership, will still agree to the bipartisan budget that the President promised to support. After he broke that promise, they passed bills to fund all of government except Homeland Security for the rest of the year at levels previously agreed by Republicans and the President. They also passed short term funding for Homeland Security so that it can function while final decisions are made about the wall. But Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate Majority leader, has refused to allow votes or even debate on those bills or any other options unless President Trump has approved them in advance. McConnell’s action, if it stands, will mark the day when we cease to be a republic.
The Constitution of our republic has separated the President and the operations of government from the legislative branch, which makes the laws and the budgets. When one person, in this case Mitch McConnell, prevents consideration and passage of laws that the President doesn’t like, he has changed our government from a republic to a dictatorship. The President does have authority to veto any bill passed by the congress. A two thirds majority would be required to override his veto. But there is no justification for stopping the entire legislative process. If that is possible, President Trump will have made himself the dictator of a once free nation. It is the responsibility of our judiciary, our legislature, and ultimately of citizens to preserve the republic. The wall is insignificant by comparison, and is justified by lies.
Almost all illegal drugs and other contraband arrive here through normal, legal shipment methods, not by crossing the border at locations without roads. The great majority of unauthorized immigrants arrive legally, with some form of permission for travel but instead of going home; they blend into communities and economies. Presidents Bush and Obama both reduced illegal immigration without a wall. The number of unauthorized immigrants in the US today is actually 1.5 million fewer than in 2007. There is no record of a terrorist entering the US by illegally crossing our southern border. Although some have committed violent crimes and joined gangs, immigrants are actually less likely to commit violent crimes than Americans born in this nation. The wall is insignificant in terms of security.
The $5.7 billion that President Trump wants for a wall is less than .0008 of federal spending for the year. It is a drop in a $7.5 trillion spending bucket. That money would be a huge help to some of our underfunded research and human service efforts but it’s a small fraction of our huge budget and our trillion dollar deficit. The wall is financially insignificant.
The “caravans” of refugees at our border claim to be seeking asylum from crime and political violence in Central America. Our laws entitle them to be heard and to enter the US as refugees if their claims are justified. In our nation of laws, anyone who objects to this should seek to change the law, not to create barriers that thwart it.
The issue of significance is that our President, Senate majority leader, and the majority of congressional Republicans have failed their oath to protect and defend our constitution by refusing to allow debate or votes on any legislation that is not pre-approved by a President who has assumed the powers of a dictator. At present, we are no longer a republic.