As Might Be Expected

As might be expected, the Imperial Ukase issued yesterday regarding the Deportation of Young Aliens has caused a bit of a ruckus in the Imperial Court. It has, they say, put the Republicans and Mr. Romney "on the spot." I'm sure it has. Not that it will likely matter in the end, but there you are.

As has been the case with many Emissions from On High, this latest Directive From the Throne is somewhat ambiguous and open to interpretation Down Below. Much like the multiple HAMP fiascos and the confusion surrounding other mortgage programs announced with great fanfare that wind up dashing rather than enhancing Hope, this one orders that DHS stop deporting "Dreamers" -- ie: students who through no fault of their own don't have immigration papers because they were brought to the US as children by undocumented immigrants. Other than that, of course, deportations can continue apace.

And what a pace it is, too. Millions have been sent packing into the Netherworld of Outer Darkness, some not surprisingly by mistake -- either they are legal immigrants or even citizens who get caught up in the Kafkaesque nightmare of a very brutal and totally unaccountable (to the People) bureaucracy which is apparently institutionally incapable of figuring out the most basic matters such as whether or not they should be deporting this or that individual, or even in some cases comprehending accurately who the individual is.

So now the Throne is declaring a halt to the deportation of undocumented students; that's going to work well, since their parents are still subject to random and arbitrary detention and deportation. As if breaking up families weren't bad enough as it is... And what was this about farmers and ranchers? I don't quite get it. Was he saying that illegal farmworkers are to be permitted so that farmers and ranchers can continue to exploit their labor or what? I actually think that's what he was getting at. "Because it's the right thing to do."

Yes, well.

On the other hand, I don't know that the Throne has control of DHS -- in fact, it doesn't look like anybody does. As was warned about at its creation, the Department has metastasized into a security behemoth that enjoys trampling all in its path and ignoring orders from On High. In fact, it seems to declare its independence from oversight and control every day, much like the CIA and such.

This is what happens when a massive security bureaucracy is instituted on the fly, under panic conditions, with a mandate but no realistic controls, oversight, or accountability for actions as opposed to meeting targets.

The US has had much experience with this sort of thing, and to see it happening again is sad. But the People have little or no say in these things, and Government is blind, deaf and dumb to persuasion from those who tend to get it right as opposed to those who tend to get it wrong.

So what will be the upshot of this move by His Serenity?

My sense? Much like many other domestic initiatives, little or nothing. ICE and DHS will continue to do whatever they damn-well please with regard to round ups and deportations; students will continue to be randomly selected for ejection; the brutal wheels of the Juggernaut will grind on, crushing all in its path.

And no one in a position to do anything about it will.

That's how Our Rulers want it to be, too.