Letter: Enforce laws for a viable nation

It is sad to see The Gazette agreeing with and parroting the Washington Post and others in support of DACA.

DACA was created with an executive order by Barack Obama, not with legislative action by Congress. The proper role of an executive order is to implement procedures to accomplish the intent of bills enacted by Congress and signed into law by the president. It is not a tool to be used by the president to bypass Congress in order to enact policies that Congress would not approve. Such action is in contravention of our Constitution. Our Constitution is clear in its definition of the roles assigned to Congress, the president, and the courts.

The United States has a long tradition of acting as a nation of laws, with no person above the law. As a matter of fact, the first abuse cited in our Declaration of Independence is: 'He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.”

Clearly, our Founding Fathers found an executive that took it upon itself to pick and choose which laws to enforce, which is totally unacceptable.

The current trend of various entities (state and local governments, as well as universities, etc.) to ignore selected laws is a dangerous precedent. Who is to decide which laws to enforce? If we are to continue to have a viable nation, we must enforce our laws, or change them in accordance with our constitutional procedures, not change them via executive fiat.

James Bartlett

Cedar Rapids