Sunday, January 29, 2017

Executive Orders, Memorandums, and American Laws: Ghosts of the Past



Many have been alarmed (and many are celebrating) by President Trump's early blitzkrieg of executive orders and memorandums, especially those that seek to:

Restrict the travel and immigration of persons from several countries in Africa and the Middle East regardless of their visa status.

Build a border wall with Mexico and increase our deportation and border patrol personnel.

Expedite the process (environmental reviews, etc.) that would eventually support the completion of the Keystone XL (Dakota Access) Oil Pipeline.




I have heard many commentators talk that "this is the first time we have ever seen restrictions on immigration based on religion, country of origin...or the that our treatment of indigenous people is suddenly so atrocious...or that this is a first that a president has been so blatantly racist, xenophobic, etc."


There are many historical examples that illustrate that President Trump's Executive Orders are nothing (definitely not new) more then ghosts of the past coming back to haunt us.





Here are a few examples (among many) of these vicious ghosts:


The Original United States Constitution support of Slavery

The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798

The Indian Removal Act of 1830

Dred Scott Decision 1854

Violation of the Ft. Laramie Treaty in 1877

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

Plessy v Ferguson 1896

The Palmer Raids and Immigrant Deportations 1919-1920

The Mexican Repatriation Movement 1929-1936

FDR's Anti-Jewish Immigration during WWII

FDR's Executive Order 9066: Japanese Internment

Our treatment of Korean War Orphans

Our treatment of Vietnamese Refugees

Our denial of responsibility to Agent Orange victims


And the list goes on and on...





When will we begin to practice our most basic creed in America...that "All Men Are Created Equal"?









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