As a pastor, I approach most things from a philosophical angle. As a thinking being, I approach things from the angle of reason.
It's always been impossible for me to separate these two approaches (as it should be) to the questions in my life. They are like a coin with two sides, each incomplete without the other. No sides, no coin.
This is both the blessing and the curse of being human-- the wars of head and heart. There are far too many situations in my life where these two approaches to a problem are at an armistice.
DACA however, is not one of them.
Policy
For those who are unaware, the program called DACA, begun by the executive order of President Obama in 2012, allowed certain people called "Dreamers” (approximately 800,000 of them) who came to the U.S. illegally as minors to be protected from immediate deportation.
Dreamers were able to request “consideration of deferred action” for a period of two years, which would then be subject to renewal.
In recent days, the Trump Administration has been working tirelessly to revise (and possibly repeal altogether) DACA in order for it to align with its current immigration stance(s).
And this brings me to a question— a question about policy.
Where does policy begin?
I would posit that all policy begins on a philosophical level.
Every law that we have in the U.S., every jot and tittle of our Constitution all began in the realm of ideas, values, and certain philosophies about human beings and their dealings in the world and with each other.
Following that philosophy came intellect, which necessitated that it be congruent with reason. It was then discussed, debated, then written down and signed by lawmakers (who also had their own philosophical leanings and varying capacities of reason).
And DACA is the same. It began as a philosophical construct— the idea (and ideal) that the United States has always been a nation of immigrants, and that we should cherish, practice, and defend that idea.
If you visit the Statue of Liberty, you'll find an aged bronze plaque there housing the familiar words of a poet named Emma Lazarus who wrote a piece titled, "The New Colossus."
It reads,
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
This is not a law. It is a value statement. And it sets forth a certain philosophy about America.
In short, it's saying, "All of you from somewhere else. America wants you here! Poor? Suffocated in your freedoms? Wretched? Homeless? Come! This is a safe harbor. Become part of this. We welcome you."
Family Values
If you Google the words, "Conservative Organizations For Families," you'll find no small list of names whose mission it is to build stronger families in our country.
And again, as is human, the missions of these orgs are all based on a certain philosophy about family units. The philosophy? That a strong country is made up of strong families.
And on this, I agree with my conservative siblings.
I (often) do not agree with the methods these organizations use to strengthen families, nor what they would define as "a family," but the basic idea of stronger families is a good value to have.
Some Nagging Questions
So a conservative base elected a conservative president with conservative ideals. And this president is wanting to repeal DACA. That is this administration's philosophy on immigration. And it is a philosophy, because it seeks to repeal an existing policy.
I suppose I'm left with a few nagging questions.
If conservatives value strong families, then is repealing DACA consistent with that philosophy and with reason?
Does repealing DACA strengthen families or weaken them?
Could we get an answer to these questions?
Family Values Conservatives, please chime in.