As any politically-minded American should know by now, Donald Trump’s comments on halting Muslim immigration into this country has now gone predictably viral. My previous article proved that the issue of immigration falls under the jurisdiction of State governments per the Ninth & Tenth Amendments. After listening to the constitutionally ignorant politicos and talking heads babble their perennial gush and proving their lack of knowledge on this subject, I will further expound on the truth of immigration as it applies to the US Constitution.
Since the liberal left and neo-conservatives both worship and idolize Abraham Lincoln, and who considers him this nation’s greatest president, I will illustrate his views on this matter.
When Abraham Lincoln announced his constitutionally illegal Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, there was an uproar among the people of the North, who feared that it would cause a huge influx of blacks into their respective States. To assuage their fears, he said in a message to Congress in 1862: “But why should emancipation South send free people North? And in any event cannot the North decide for itself whether to receive them?”
It does not get any plainer! Lincoln very well knew the States possessed the authority to police immigration, since Illinois had enacted laws preventing blacks, slave or free, from settling in his home State. Bear in mind that these were not immigrants from a foreign country but a people who were born and raised within the boundaries of the United States. Therefore, it is ludicrous to believe the federal government, a creature of the States, has police powers over them concerning foreign immigration.
Lincoln even takes it a step farther. Not only did he reaffirm that States could in fact ban black immigration, but could also banish and re-colonize them entirely out of the country. He made this speech and declared: “A separation of the races is the only perfect preventative of amalgamation, but as immediate separation is impossible, the next best thing is to keep them apart where they are not already together…Such separation, if ever affected at all, must be affected by colonization…The enterprise is a difficult one, but where there is a will there is a way, and what colonization needs is a hearty will. Will springs from the two elements of moral sense and self-interest. Let us be brought to believe it is morally right [emphasis included], and then at the same time, favorable to, or at least not against our interest, to transfer the African to his native clime, and we shall find a way to do it, however great the task may be [emphasis included].
Abraham Lincoln declares emphatically that the States not only have the power to police immigration, but also to deport anyone and all who they so desire out of their respective boundaries. He was not censured by any federal official nor was he called to task by the press! But of course , don’t expect to hear any of these historical facts from any elected official or the mainstream media. The average low-information citizen blindly accepts that the federal government has omniscient constitutional authority over any and all matters which is a direct usurpation of the Ninth & Tenth Amendments.
For those who falsely believe federal powers override State powers, here is what the Father of the Constitution, James Madison, declares in his Federalist #45 which defines the Tenth Amendment: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in State governments are numerous and indefinite.” Thanks for clarifying this Mr. Madison! Constitutionally speaking, when did the sovereign States [nations] consensually surrender their right to police immigration? They did not! For the States to relinquish a reserved power, such as immigration, the only process to achieve this is articulated in Article V which states: “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the States, shall call a convention for proposing Amendments, which in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Convention in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by Congress.”
Since neither Congress nor the several States has endeavored to propose an Amendment to the Constitution for the purpose of delegating the power of immigration to the federal government, this issue is still in the jurisdiction of State governments, just as it was reserved to the States in 1787. Mr. Trump, keep hammering this issue and don’t back down!
Loy Mauch
12/9/2015
The Anti-Federalist 