A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Congress makes the
law, the president
enforces the law
T
he Supreme Court
upheld the separation
of powers as provided
by the Constitution,
ending President Barack
Obama’s attempt to change
immigration law by fiat.
Driven by crushing
poverty, illegal immigrants
have flooded across the
border. They have found
ready employment, filling
vital but tiring manual labor
jobs Americans shun. But
they have placed strains on
public education, healthcare
and law enforcement.
Late in 2014, the president
issued executive orders
temporarily lifting the
threat of deportation for as
many as 5 million illegal
immigrants who have been
in the country for five years
and who have children born
in the United States, and to
children brought here by
their parents prior to Jan. 1,
2010.
His orders also granted
these immigrants temporary
legal status and work permits.
Twenty-six states sued,
alleging the action violated
the president’s constitutional
duty to faithfully execute
laws passed by Congress,
and had not been carried
out in accordance with the
Administrative Procedures
Act.
The district court in Texas
and the 5th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals agreed. On
a 4-4 vote due to the death
this year of Justice Antonin
Scalia, the Supreme Court
leaves in place the ruling by
the federal appeals court in
New Orleans.
Article 1, Section 8
of the Constitution gives
Congress sole power to
“establish a uniform rule of
naturalization.” Congress has
enacted laws that outline the
process for immigrants to be
granted legal status in the
United States.
In granting illegal
immigrants temporary legal
status and work permits
contrary to those laws,
the president exceeded his
constitutional authority.
We concede the president
and his law enforcement
agencies have great
prosecutorial discretion
in pressing deportation
cases, even if applying
such discretion so broadly
stretches the common
exercise of the authority.
We could argue that we
have 12 million illegal
immigrants and all the issues
inherent in their presence in
large part because presidents
of both parties have not, for
a variety of reasons practical
and political, fully enforced
existing law.
While the president can
within legal boundaries
enforce laws as he sees fit,
he cannot make or change
those laws. That’s the job of
Congress. And for the sake
of this exercise, it matters
not that Congress has failed
to address these issues with
changes to existing law
despite nearly universal
dissatisfaction with the status
quo.
This ruling set no national
precedent and changes
nothing in practical terms.
Few illegal immigrants
outside those convicted of
felonies will be repatriated.
The millions who, armed
with fake papers, hold jobs
and live quietly will continue
to do so in the shadows
without legal status.
As we’ve said, the
law should be changed
to provide a pathway to
permanent residency, but
not citizenship, to deserving
illegal immigrants living and
working in the United States
who meet strict requirements.
But whether we let illegal
immigrants stay or force
them to go, in the end it is
most important that we do
so under laws passed by
Congress and enforced by the
executive branch.
USPS 226-340
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F ARMER ’ S F ATE
Denver Joe’s baby buffalo
By Briannna Walker
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
I squinted hard and could
barely make out the “5” on the
clock’s little hand. I rubbed my
blurry eyes.
What was that noise, that very
loud noise, a deafening, earth
shaking noise — then I woke up
enough to recognize the phone.
THE PHONE?
Suddenly I was wide awake.
What was wrong? Who was call-
ing? Was there an accident? Did
an animal get out? Get hit? My
sleeping brain went into over-
drive with horrible, tragic, wild
thoughts. Then my husband
mouthed the words: “Every-
thing’s fine. It’s just my brother.
Go back to bed.”
I lay back down, my heart
still racing and adrenaline surg-
ing. I was awake. And not be-
cause of a new baby, or the cats
fighting, or a problem with the
sheep.
No, I was awake because my
brother-in-law forgot about the
time difference between Colora-
do and Oregon.
“A buffalo?” my husband
exclaimed,
eliminating
the
last chance I had at sleeping. I
couldn’t help but listen to his
side of the conver-
sation.
“Why would
you buy a buffa-
lo?”
“Because your
dog died?”
Brianna
“You thought
Walker
you’d replace your
Lab with a buffa-
lo?”
“But you live in Denver! What
would you do with it?”
“Put it in your backyard?”
“A city ordinance, huh?”
“Only a goat, no other farm
animals?”
“Huh, imagine that — not be-
ing able to have buffalo in your
tiny backyard in Denver?”
“It’s just a baby? You
KNOW what babies do, don’t
you?”
“Oh, but it was at an auction.”
“Oh, yes, of course, I get it.
You HAD to bid on it — the buf-
falo being at an auction and all.”
“$900 seems a great price
for a baby buffalo, to replace
your Lab that died, that you
can’t put in your tiny back-
yard because of a city ordi-
nance, in the small rural town of
DENVER!”
By now, I’m holding my sides
from laughter. I’m not much of
a morning person, but this was
worth waking up for.
“You want me to take it?”
“What would I do with a buf-
falo?”
“I stand corrected, ‘baby’ buf-
falo?”
“Just feed it and bury it when
it dies?”
“Oh, well that’s making
much more sense. Bid on a buf-
falo to replace your pet, to send
to your brother who lives 16
hours away, so we can feed it,
and care for it and bury it when
it dies. And since the buffa-
lo is 16 hours away from you,
so it can’t greet you when you
come home, and you can’t take
it for walks (in your small rural
community), you’ll just get an-
other dog to replace the absent
buffalo, that you bought to re-
place your old lab.”
“Only you!”
He lost the bid later that day,
and no buffalo arrived, baby
or otherwise — but I started
thinking about maybe auction-
ing off my barren goat. Af-
ter all, goats meet Denver city
ordinances.
Brianna Walker occasion-
ally writes about the Farmer’s
Fate for the Blue Mountain
Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
‘We, too, stand with
Todd McKinley’
To the Editor:
We would like to offer a round
of applause to Dan Maynard of
John Day who wrote a letter to
the Blue Mountain Eagle editor
last week. His letter, “We need
a new sheriff,” was well written
and articulate. We sincerely hope
that every citizen of Grant County
will read his letter. Like Mr. May-
nard, we, too, believe in honesty,
integrity and the need for com-
mon sense and competence in the
office of our county sheriff. We,
too, stand with Todd McKinley,
and we encourage every citizen
to get to know Todd between now
and the election this fall. You will
undoubtedly see these qualities in
Mr. McKinley.
Roy and Kris Beal
Mt. Vernon
Commissioner
Britton should
remain in offi ce
To the Editor:
We are facing another recall
petition. The recall process is an
important tool in our democratic
society, but it can be abused and
used for personal agendas.
Boyd Britton has dedicated his
time in office traveling thousands
of miles to meetings from the east
coast to the west, meeting with
government officials and organi-
zations to further the interests of
Grant County. I commend him for
his efforts. I may not agree with
everything he or the court decides,
but then I don’t agree with every-
thing my best friend says either.
In a population of our size, it
will be hard to find an individu-
al willing to commit to a task as
complex as a public office who
does not have a potential conflict
of interest. If potential conflict of
interest were a factor in an elec-
tion, we would have no one to fill
a public office.
The turnout rate for recall vot-
ing in Grant County is small com-
pared to a regular election. That
small voting block is making a big
decision that effects everyone in our
county.
Julie Carr in her recall petition
speaks of the “overwhelming con-
tinued request by the majority of
his constituents” who wanted the
court to investigate the Canyon
Creek Complex fi re. Grant County
has over 7,400 people. A “majority”
would be over 3,700 people. I was
not polled, and I doubt 3,700 people
were polled regarding any investi-
gation.
Forest Supervisor Steve Bever-
lin’s report on the fi re was informa-
tive and comprehensive. I applaud
the court for their decision to not
proceed with an independent inves-
tigation.
No elected offi cial will please
everyone. They do not all please
me. Boyd has worked as hard as any
on our behalf and should remain in
offi ce for the duration of his term.
Eva Harris
Canyon City
Vote no on
Britton recall
To the Editor:
On June 26, one day before the
deadline to fi le, the signature-gath-
erer we have all seen at various lo-
cations around the county was set
up on a side street in Prairie City.
Baffl ed by the drive to recall Coun-
ty Commissioner Boyd Britton, I
took the opportunity to question her
in depth. Here is what I learned:
1) Since the reasons for recall are
expressed in broad terms, I asked if
she could detail specifi cally even
one instance in which Commission-
er Britton had failed to perform his
duties. She admitted she could not.
2) Then why work so hard to see
him recalled? She stated she had
nothing against Commissioner Brit-
ton personally, but if her group tried
to recall the whole County Court at
once, the governor would step in
and appoint replacements.
3) I asked who her “group” was.
She stated, “The Committee of
Correspondence.” The same Com-
mittee of Correspondence, I asked,
organized by Michael Emry, the
self-proclaimed “Voice of Grant
County” from Idaho, the Michael
Emry who was camped at our coun-
ty fairgrounds with a stolen ma-
chine gun under the bed of his RV,
arrested by the FBI, now awaiting
trial on federal weapons charges?
The committee established by this
same Michael Emry from the armed
militia takeover of Malheur Refuge,
who told me himself that Jim Sproul
and Tad Houpt had invited him to
Grant County? Yes, she confi rmed,
that committee, although since Em-
ry’s arrest they were regrouping un-
der another name.
By the time this letter is pub-
lished, we will know whether this
group has gathered enough legit-
imate signatures to advance their
agenda via the expense and disrup-
tion of a special election. Voters
already elected Boyd Britton in the
last general election. If a vacan-
cy is created, the remaining two
members of the County Court will
appoint a replacement, someone the
voters will not have the opportunity
to choose.
Citizens, voters, don’t sit idly
by. Stop this divisive, deceptive
movement while there is still time.
If there is a recall election, vote no.
Vote in big numbers, while your
vote still means something.
Lynn Larssen
Seneca
‘A welcome wagon
for criminals’
To the Editor:
Michael Emry, who glowingly
praised Sheriff Palmer, moved from
Idaho to Grant County, illegally
possessing a .50-caliber machine
gun, which he stole from his Idaho
employer. Emry is arrested, and two
of Palmer’s Grant County deputies
write letters of support after his ar-
rest.
Palmer’s Grant County deputies
are a welcome wagon for criminals.
Brian McDonough
New Boston, New Hampshire