As the Supreme Court wrestles with the Scope of Executive Authority issue, I was prompted to review various (historical) documents/decisions relating to the same. While doing so I rediscovered a brief that I’d previously referenced years before relating to the issue of selective-immigration authority citing, specifically, the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 (see attached brief).
At the time former President Truman repudiated the Act however, despite his veto, largely because he was dissatisfied with a component that he felt was not satisfactorily addressed (in the “Bill”) however, ultimately resolved thru the Immigration Act of 1965. Congress was ultimately successful in overturning his veto and the legislation was made law.
Now, to my point: The 1952 Act affirmed the necessity of a Sovereign Nation to protect itself from an external threat migrating into its boarders by way of the accepted immigration conventions. Throughout the 1950’s the threat was communism, in the 1960’s it became subversive-activists, in the 1970’s and beyond the threat matured into a much broader domain; ethno-religious politically-targeted terrorism.
Former President Carter, no less, in 1979 applied provisions of the Act to both prevent immigration from Iran as well as forcing those within the U.S. to report currency of their visas which, in a majority of cases, ended in forced deportation. Critical point to understand is that the ultimate goal was and should forever continue to be the safety and security of the Nation. The key component in all of this is to be clear that the Law provides no deference for race, national origin or religion.
These features continue to be active components of Federal Law and as such, given the blistering rhetoric of this political season, it should be clear to Americans how far and away most elected officials have moved from a fundamental construct of their oaths; the preservation of National Sovereignty and the precedence long established providing them the authority to do so.
To believe that dismantling the structure of a national order/identity by introducing a malignant threat clearly in opposition to that order proves its strength and durability and is right up there with one of my favorite metaphors-in-the absurd: A man, lying in a pool of blood and moments before losing consciousness manages to ask the assailant, “Why did you shoot me? Why, for what reason?” The shooter replies; “Well, I guess because it’s the only gun that I own that’s loaded.”
Do take a moment and read the McCarran-Walter brief; I’m certain it will provide you a valuable perspective. True Freedom does not exist without the mechanism of Liberty thru which both are expressed. The moment you surrender any component of either, what remains is merely a shadow of what once was. Far too many Americans, having no conceptual or foundational grasp of these unalienable blessings, have taken to adopting an unholy ideology where they believe that by surrendering their own or that of another’s they are expressing their Liberty Freely. It is only after the fact that they then discover how truly bleak the road back is that awaits them.
http://icirr.org/sites/default/files/IPC%20McCarran-Walter.pdf
Curtis C. Greco, Founder
