Obama Created The DACA Mess, But Trump Will Probably Make It Worse

That this country cannot come to a reasonable decision regarding the fate of people who came to this country illegally when they were children represents everything I cannot stand about American politics.

It should surprise no one that President Trump was going to end DACA. But how can I have confidence Congress can pass legislation to remedy this matter if they cannot pass a bill to replace Obamacare? (And even if they do what if Trump says no?) How can the Trump White House work with Congress when the Trump White House cannot function on its own?

Most important of all how does the Trump Administration proceed to deport thousands of people to countries they have never called home? After all, many of the people affected have served in our armed forces. They serve our country and we tell them to get the hell out. What is the public good in deporting these people? If the Trump Administration actually embarks on deporting these DREAMers he will do this country far more harm than good?

Now I must say that we are in this state of affairs due to former President Barack Obama. Not surprisingly, Obama saw fit to weigh in on Trump's decision characterizing it as "self-defeating" and "cruel". The problem here, of course, is that Obama overstepped his authority when he instituted and expanded the program via Executive Order and the Supreme Court put the kabosh on the program last year. Now one can certainly argue that it would have been probably been impossible for Obama and a Republican Congress to agree where it concerned immigration. But there was a Democratic majority in Congress during his first two years in office. If this matter was of such importance why didn't he make it a priority for the early days of his administration? Or was passing the Stimulus Bill and Obamacare all that mattered? 

If one were to take a more Machiavellian point of view, Obama wanted to wait for a Republican controlled Congress and use the DREAMers as a wedge issue? But let us say for argument's sake that Obama's intentions were good. He still didn't cover himself in glory. At best, Obama did not make this matter a priority when his party controlled Congress and then embarked on unilateral action with the knowledge that it would likely be thwarted by the judiciary. Or perhaps because Obama is so full of himself he probably thought he could get away with doing an end run around the Constitution. Or maybe Obama simply thought the ends justified the means. 

Whatever Obama's reasoning concerning DACA, this is now in Donald Trump's lap. As we saw with Obamacare, Trump possesses an infinite capacity to turn the poor decisions Obama made far, far worse. In which case, nothing good can come of this state of affairs.