How Does Illegal Immigration Affect Independence of Americans?

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is independence, as in Independence Day. Americans lost some of their independence after terrorists attacked our nation on September 11, 2001, and under numerous administrations. However, no administration has destroyed American independence at the rate that the Biden administration has done.

            Under the Trump administration, the United States was oil independent. We did not have to dependent on anyone but ourselves to provide our oil, and we had oil and natural gas to export to other nations. Joe Biden came into office and began to shut down the oil and gas industry, beginning with the Keystone Pipeline during his first week as president.

            The Trump administration put several policies in place to stop the flow of immigrants from entering our nation illegally. The Biden administration has done away with each of those policies, and more than two million illegal aliens have entered the United States in the past eighteen months.

            Although the Supreme Court made many decisions that were good for our nation, they made a big mistake in my eyes when they approved the termination of the Remain in Mexico program (formally known as the Migration Protection Protocols). In a 5-4 decision, moderate justices joined the liberal justices to terminate a successful program. Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.

            The Supreme Court’s decision will make matters at the border even worse. Remain in Mexico was implemented in 2019 to stop the large caravans of immigrants from coming to the southern border, claiming a fear of returning home, and being released into the United States – never to be heard from again.

            In 1996 Congress gave authority to the Department of Homeland Security to return non-Mexican immigrants arriving by land to Mexico while their claims for asylum were determined. The program worked exceptionally well, and the caravans stopped. The numbers of travelers coming to the border declined once they and the human smugglers learned that the people would not be allowed to enter the United States. This was a good program because the vast majority of asylum claims proved to be fraudulent.

            The Biden administration was determined to throw open the southern border and invite the world into our nation. To do so, they ended every successful immigration policy and enforcement program put in place by the Trump association, including Remain in Mexico. Texas and Missouri sued the Biden administration, and the district court issued an injunction. The Fifth Circuit Court affirmed the decision by the lower court, and the case went to the Supreme Court.

Lora Ries and Hans von Spakovsky at the Heritage Foundation claim that the Supreme Court made a big mistake when the justices believed the arguments put forth by the Biden administration. Court Unwisely Lets Biden End Program Making Illegals Remain in Mexico (dailysignal.com)

In oral arguments before the Supreme Court, the government disingenuously blamed Congress for not providing enough detention resources for the administration to comply with the mandatory detention statute.

But the open-borders left that controls this White House doesn’t want to detain illegal aliens. The Biden administration does not use all the detention space it has, eliminated family detention centers, cut the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s budget, and relies on ineffective alternatives to detention that allows aliens to disappear into the anonymity of our vast nation.

Further, the government argued it could not implement the Remain in Mexico policy because it would be too difficult to negotiate an agreement with Mexico.

This cop-out ignores the fact that international negotiations are a regular function of the executive branch and that the last administration had no problem reaching an agreement with the government of Mexico to allow these aliens to remain there….

Third, the government argued that, instead of returning illegal aliens to Mexico, it has no other choice but to parole illegal aliens into the U.S.

Under the law, parole can only be granted on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit. The government made the ridiculous argument that it met the significant public benefit requirement because parole ensures that DHS doesn’t run out of detention space to house future aliens who might be higher priorities because of their criminal records or flight risk….

Despite the government’s weak arguments, the court majority rules that because returning aliens to Mexico is discretionary, not mandatory, the Biden administration did not act unlawfully in ending the program….

            The justices explained that Congress did not “state that the Remain in Mexico policy becomes mandatory if the government cannot comply with mandatory detention.” In other words, Congress did not do its job. In addition, the justices refused to “direct the executive branch to conduct foreign affairs. Rather, that’s Congress’ job. Finally, the majority gave the government a pass on the issue of mass parole in seeming violation of the statute, concluding that DHS can exercise parole.”

            Some of the justices saw through the government’s arguments. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his dissent that “the number of aliens paroled each month – more than 27,000 in April alone – is a strong indication that the government is not making parole decisions on case-by-case basis.” He continued by stating that the “parole statute cannot justify the release of tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens.” Alito added:

… rather than avail itself of Congress’s clear statutory alternative to return inadmissible aliens to Mexico while they await proceedings in this country, DHS has concluded that it may forgo that option altogether and instead simply release into this country untold numbers of aliens who are very likely to be removed if they show up for their removal hearings.

            The authors concluded that this “practice violates the clear terms of the law, but the court looks the other way.” They said that the Court’s decision will embolden “the Biden administration to continue to allow an unlimited number of illegal aliens to flood our communities in violation of federal immigration law and encouraging asylum fraud.”

            While illegal aliens are flooding our border and entering our communities, the “Mexican drug cartels that control the smuggling and human trafficking across our southern border were the clear winners with this decision. And once again, Americans – including legal immigrants – are on the losing end.”

            As long as the Biden administration allows millions of people to enter the nation illegally, Americans will lose independence. Americans deserve to have secure borders and well-run immigration programs.

 

Agency, Freedom, Independence, Liberty

What is the connection between agency, freedom, independence, and liberty? Do these words all basically mean the same thing or is there a difference?

The prophets and scriptures teach us that we had moral agency in our premortal home with Heavenly Father. "Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee" (Moses 3:17). We used our agency in the premortal Council in Heaven when a conflict arose between the followers of Jesus Christ and the followers of Satan. Heavenly Father presented His plan for the happiness of His children; His plan included the use of individual moral agency and a Savior. Lucifer - also known as Satan - didn't like our Father's plan and presented an alternate plan. "Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor" (Moses 4:1). When he made this statement, he "rebelled against [God] and sought to destroy the agency of man" (Moses 4:3). We were given the opportunity to vote for either Heavenly Father's plan or for Satan's plan. We know that we supported the plan of our Father in Heaven because we are here on earth with bodies. Satan's plan was rejected, and he and his followers were cast out of heaven without the opportunity to ever obtain bodies. (See Doctrine and Covenants 29:36-37.) Our choices in heaven made us worthy to come to earth.

One of the purposes for our lives here on earth is to learn to use our moral agency correctly and to show Heavenly Father that we can make correct choices. The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that we are free to choose liberty and eternal life by following the teaching of Christ; we are also free to choose captivity and death by following Satan. (See 2 Nephi 2:27.) This right to choose either good or evil and to act for ourselves is called agency.

Our life on earth is a period of testing. When planning for the mortal creation of His spirit children, our Heavenly Father said, "We will prove [or test] them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abraham 3:25). Without this wonderful gift of agency, we would not have the ability to pass the test or to show Heavenly Father that we will do all that He commands us to do. Because we have been given the gift of agency or the ability to choose, we are each responsible for our own actions. (See Helaman 14:30-31).

We can strengthen our agency by choosing to live according to God's plan for us. When we make right choices, we increase our ability to make more right choices. We also grow in wisdom and strength of character and faith. Our ability to make right choices increases. Our Heavenly Father gave us commandments to help us choose righteousness. He wants us to grow in faith, power, knowledge, wisdom, and all other good things in order than we can become like Him. (See Doctrine and Covenants 93:28.)

In order for us to choose righteousness, there must be opposites of good and evil. Lehi, a great prophet in the Book of Mormon told his son Jacob, there must be "an opposition in all things. If not so, … righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad" (2 Nephi 2:11).

God allows Satan to oppose righteousness. God said of Satan, "I caused that he should be cast down;
"And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice" (Moses 4:3-4).

Satan does all that he can do to destroy the work of God for he seeks "the misery of all mankind…. He seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself" (2 Nephi 2:18, 27). Satan does not love anyone; he does not want us to find happiness or to have anything that is good in our lives. (See Moroni l7:17.) In fact, Satan wants us to be his slaves, and he uses many disguises to deceive us and to enslave us.

When we make bad choices and follow the temptations of Satan, we limit our choices. We are free to choose our actions, but we are not free to choose the consequences of those actions. Consequences, whether good or bad, follow as a nature result of any choice made. (See Galatians 6:7; Revelation 22:12.)

God's commandments help us to use our agency wisely and to move away from the dangers of wickedness. When we choose wisely, we enjoy perfect happiness and move toward exaltation and eternal progression.

Agency is a gift from God that we were given in our heavenly home. We used it there to make correct choices, and we can use it on earth to make righteous choices. In order to use our agency, we must be able to choose between good and evil, good and better, or better and best. This opportunity to choose comes through freedom and liberty.

Freedom, independence, and liberty are often used interchangeably. Freedom is described as "the condition of being free of restraints; liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression; political independence; exemption from the arbitrary exercise of authority in the performance of a specific action; exemption from an unpleasant or onerous condition; the capacity to exercise choice; free will; ease or facility of movement; … a right or the power to engage in certain actions without control or interference" (The American Heritage College Dictionary, fourth edition, p. 552).

The same dictionary defines liberty as "the condition of being free from restriction or control; the right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing; the condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor; freedom from unjust or undue governmental control" (p. 798).

Independence is described in the same dictionary as the quality of being "not governed by a foreign power; self-governing; free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant" (p. 704).

Using these definitions, I conclude that moral agency - the ability to choose between right and wrong - is a gift from God. We brought this great gift with us when we came to earth. Freedom is the condition of being free from anything that would bind us or control us. Liberty is freedom from unjust or undue governmental control. Independence is freedom from foreign powers. As individuals, we can exercise the gift of agency only when we are living in a state of freedom or liberty such as we have in the United States. Under these circumstances, we can become self-reliant and independent by the choices we make. Therefore, independence and self-reliance are built upon freedoms and liberty and come by exercising agency.

Our founding fathers and mother understood the importance of liberty and the responsibility of agency in obtaining it. They also understood that independence was not going to come without a difficult struggle. The Declaration of Independence closes with these words, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Samuel Adams told those who were loyal to England, "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Benjamin Franklin spoke the following truth: "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

John Adams understood that there are certain requirements we must meet if we want to have liberty and independence. He said, "Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among people." He also said, "While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader…. If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security."

There is little doubt about the feelings Patrick Henry held toward liberty: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

As we continue in our efforts to maintain our freedoms, liberty and independence, it is important that we understand the truths written by William Boetcker, a German-born Presbyterian clergyman (1873-1962): "You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves" ("The Ten Cannots" (1916) - often falsely attributed to Abraham Lincoln) [http://www.cincinnatiskeptics.org/blurbs/Lincoln-cannots.html]

We cannot build ourselves up by tearing someone else down, but by working together we can become united and independent. Our Heavenly Father wants His children to be free in order to exercise their God-given agency. We will remain free and independent as long as we worship the God of this land who is Jesus Christ. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can obtain true liberty.

Freedom to Choose

Families grow stronger as they understand that the foundation for freedom and liberty is moral agency – the freedom to choose. We had agency when we lived as spirits in heaven before we came to this earth. While we lived with our Father in Heaven, He presented His plan for our happiness. He explained that He had prepared a new home for us where we would receive physical bodies and learn many things that we could not learn in heaven. He told us that we would have the ability to choose how we wanted to live our lives on earth. He said that we would one day return to live with Him if we made good choices.

After Father in Heaven presented His plan, another plan was presented to us by Lucifer. Lucifer's plan would insure that we all returned to heaven. To do this, our agency would be taken from us - and we would be forced to be good. There was a war in heaven (Revelation 12:7) because those who chose to follow Lucifer's plan wanted to force everyone else to choose it also. Those who wanted to keep their agency or freedom to choose won the war in heaven and were allowed to come to earth, receive bodies, and learn new things. Those who wanted to use force were cast out of heaven without bodies.

Among those who came to earth are some people who think they are so intelligent that they want to tell others how to live their lives. These people are sometimes called social engineers. They like to use the force of the government to change mankind and to cause them to fit a master plan. These plans are very much like the plan we rejected in heaven.

Many different programs are used to change mankind through the force of the government. Progressives are currently trying to gain control of the citizens in this nation by forcing some of these programs on our nation under the mask of health care reform, climate change, cap and trade, etc. Previous programs in other countries fell under the titles of Nazism, fascism, socialism, and communism. They were all administered under the control of a dictator such as Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pot, etc.

We fought a war in heaven over agency. Heavenly Father considered agency to be so important that He allowed one-third of the hosts of heaven - His children - to rebel and to choose to live another way.

Our nation was founded on liberty - the freedom to use our God-given agency to make choices. Our Founders fought and won a war that we might have liberty. Now we are in a war to see if we can retain our liberty. The words agency, freedom, independence, and liberty all describe the Right to Choose. Understanding the importance of moral agency helps all of us to be stronger.

Self-Reliance

To support families in achieving freedom this week, I chose to write about the principle of becoming self-reliant. Self-reliance means taking care of ourselves and our families, learning to overcome challenges before they happen, and solving our own problems. "We become self-reliant through obtaining sufficient knowledge, education, and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well-being" (Julie B. Beck, Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-Reliance [2009], pp 4-5). The person who is ultimately responsible for each one of us is ourselves. In times of emergency, we should rely on family, friends, and neighbors, but emergencies should not be happening every day. We should each work diligently to develop and maintain social, emotional, spiritual, physical and economic well being. Then when a true emergency happens, we have reserves to sustain us. We become self-reliant by living providently and increasing our abilities. We must work for what we need in order to become self-reliant and independent. Work is an eternal principle and is the means by which we break indebtedness to others. I am pleased when I see my children insisting that their children learn to work. I do not know anyone who admires laziness and slothfulness, but I know many people who appreciate a person who knows how to work and works hard at being independent. We live in a time when our federal government is doing all that it can to make the citizens dependent on the government. One of the biggest problems with this plan is that the government doesn't have anything except what it takes from the citizens. If the citizens have nothing to take, there is nothing to redistribute to others. It is important that we all become self-reliant and capable to care for ourselves and our families. By being self-reliant and independent, we can be free from worry and help bring stability to our nation, community and family.

Revolutionary War

The Revolutionary War in America brought independence and the birth of a new nation - the United States of America. The war was fought between the 13 American colonies and their mother nation, Great Britain. The war began on April 19, 1775, between the Minutemen and the Redcoats at Lexington, Massachusetts, and at nearby Concord. Eight years later on September 3, 1783, Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, signaling to the world that it recognized the independence of the United States. Tension between Great Britain and its American colonies had been building since the mid-1760s, a period of more than 10 years. The colonials didn't really want to break with their mother nation, but they wanted to be free of the unbearable laws and heavy taxes being levied by England. They felt capable of self-government and resisted the attempted enforcement of the new laws. England felt that her children were being disobedient and rebellious and decided to take more control of the situation. The Revolutionary War broke open because the colonials wanted to be treated as adults, not children. The colonies did not want war and were not prepared to wage war. They did not even have a central government or an army or a navy. Delegates from the colonies met together in a Continental Congress. The Congress acted as a central government and directed the war efforts. Two months after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, George Washington was named as commander in chief on June 15, 1775. Two days later on June 17, the British drove the Americans from Breed's Hill in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Great Britain had a much larger and better-trained army than that of the Americans, but they had to bring supplies and reinforcements from England. Britain won many battles but didn't gain much because the Americans kept getting new troops and kept fighting. The year 1776 brought a win for the Americans at Moore's Creek Bridge (Feb. 27), the evacuation of the British from Boston (Mar. 17), the adoption of the Declaration of Independence (July 4), and a surprise attack by Washington on Hessian troops at Trenton (Dec. 26). That year also the British defeated the patriots on Long Island (Aug. 27) and occupied New York City (Sept. 15). The year 1777 started with a victory for Washington on January 3 at Princeton. There were other wins for the patriots as well as some losses. The big wins for the patriots were two battles at Freeman's Farm (Sep.) and General Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga (Oct. 17), marking a turning point in the war and showing Frances that America could win the war. The British won the Battles of Brandywine (Sep. 11) and Germantown (Oct. 4) and occupied Philadelphia (Sep. 26) while Washington's army retired to Valley Forge (Dec. 19) to spend the winter with too little food and inadequate clothing and shelter. On February 6, 1778, France signed an alliance to help the Americans, forcing Britain to defend the rest of its empire, but the Battle of Monmouth (June 28) ended in a draw, and the British took Savannah (Dec 29). The year 1779 went a little better for the Americans. British defenders at Vincennes surrendered to Americans (Feb. 25). Spain declared war on Great Britain (June 21). John Paul Jones' ship, the Bonhomme Richard captured the British ship Serapis (Sep. 23). In 1780 Charleston fell to the British after a siege (May 12), and the British won at Camden. The patriots fought back for a win at King's Mountain. In 1781 the patriots won at Cowpens (Jan 17), a French fleet inflicted great damage at Chesapeake Bay on British ships (Sep. 5), and the British surrendered at Yorktown (Oct. 19). Yorktown was the last major battle of the war, but fighting continued elsewhere. On November 30, 1782, Americans and British representatives signed a preliminary peaces treaty in Paris. On April 15, 1783, Congress ratified the preliminary peace treaty. The final peace was signed in Paris by the United States and Great Britain on September 3, 1783 - nearly two years after Yorktown. The Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the United States and established the new nation's borders - from Canada to Florida (Spain owned Florida) and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. The most important result of the Revolutionary War was the independence of the 13 colonies and the establishment of the United States government - ruled by law and dedicated to guarantee certain basic rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Another result of the American war was that people in other nations admired the principles that governed the American Revolution and started demanding political reforms. American military deaths from all causes numbered about 25,700. British military deaths were about 10,000. America went deeply into debt to finance the Revolutionary War. Through taxes authorized by the Constitution, the war debt was paid off by the early 1800s. Great Britain nearly went bankrupt with the financial strain of the war. Their economy was saved by expanded trade with the United States after the war. Taxes on the trade reduced Britain's dept. France suffered even more as it nearly went bankrupt from its expenditures in the war. The French Revolution in 1789 was a direct result of France's financial problems. Facts and information for this post came from an article by James Kirby Martin, World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 16, pp. 270-287.

Entitlement

This is Freedom Friday. Are you wearing blue today? I've been thinking a lot lately about entitlement and have come to the following conclusion: entitlement mentality encourages dependence on others and thus diminishes freedom and initiative. To be truly free, one must stand independent and have the full opportunity to exercise agency.

I believe that our personal freedom is defined by the degree to which we are dependent of others. I also believe that government entitlement programs are enslaving Americans. When one relies on someone else to provide one's wants and needs, one loses the ability and willingness to do for one's self.

I read an interesting book a couple of years ago that was very interesting to me. One chapter in the book still haunts me and definitely affects many of my decisions. The book is entitled The Millionaire Next Door. It was written by Thomas J. Stanley, PhD and William D. Danko, PhD. The chapter that I remember best was about the ways that well-meaning parents use "entitlement programs" with their children. The authors used many different examples to demonstrate their theory that parents can cause their children to become less productive. I don't have the book so I can't use any of their actual examples, but I will try to provide one from memory.

A couple had two daughters. One of the daughters did well in school and carved out for herself a well-paying career. She became a very successful businesswoman. The other daughter married and had several children. The husband was unable to provide the level of living that this couple desired or that her parents thought they should have. Her parents "felt sorry" for them and decided to "help" them by giving them money to meet their "needs." The other sister didn't "need" any help so they didn't give any to her. In spite of help from the parents, the gap between the two sisters continued to grow. The "have" sister continued to build her wealth while the "have not" sister grew more and more needy and dependent on the parents.

The authors also gave many examples of how parents who distributed money evenly among their children also enslaved their children. For example, the parents decided to "spend down their wealth" by giving each of their children $10,000 every year. After a year or more of receiving this extra money, the children began to add this amount to their budgets and to plan on receiving the money. This raised their standard of living beyond what they could actually afford. This dependence on money from the parents enslaved the children.

Another problem arose from the parents distributing their wealth: Some parents thought they should have some control over the financial decisions made by their children simply because they were providing money to them.

Through reading this book, I discovered that there is a very fine line between giving children assistance so they can become stronger and more capable and enslaving their children. I am still working on the answer to this question: How can responsible parents help their children without also hurting them?

This brings us back to government entitlement programs. How can the government help their truly needy citizens without enslaving millions of people? How many millions of people failed to save for retirement simply because they thought the government was saving for them through the Social Security program? How many people live from paycheck to paycheck instead of developing an emergency fund because they plan to use unemployment insurance to meet financial needs in case they lose their jobs? How many millions of people want the government to provide health insurance for them so they don't have to spend their own money buying insurance?

I remember being shocked at a news item that came out in the media during the Katrina disaster. Many of the residents of New Orleans stayed in the city because they were waiting for their government checks to arrive in the mail in order to have enough money to leave town. They could have lost their lives because they were so dependent on someone else!  An "entitlement mentality" leads to dependence on others and enslavement. This condition makes it easier to just go along with the program rather than to fight the establishment.

We might be helped by remembering the following statement that is attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson: "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved." Government handouts kill the initiative to work in order to provide for one's needs; dependence on others also kills the desire to be independent.

Socialist programs turn productive citizens into lazy slobs: The people who are willing to work aren't motivated to work just to give their money to other people, and the people who won't work realize that they aren't required to work in order to have their needs met. This fact alone means that everyone becomes poor simply because no one is working.

Those who expect the government to take care of them should understand that the government doesn't have any money except what it collects from its citizens in taxes. If no one is working, there are no taxes being collected. Thus the government doesn't have any money to give away. Our nation will be in really big trouble when the government doesn't have any money to pay the $12 trillion national debt.

We can do our part to help the nation by being independent and having our own financial freedom. That should be the personal goal of every American. Independence means learning to work hard, living conservatively, and being self-reliant. This means living within one's means, avoiding debt, and establishing our own emergency fund. On this Freedom Friday, I encourage all of you to discover if you have an "entitlement mentality." If you do, you must understand that this type of thinking will drag you down rather than raise you up. Please, please, please - choose to be independent!