"How are they not just? If you are in the country without authorization from the proper authorities, you go back. Period. No exceptions. How is a law like that unjust?"
There is justice of law, and justice of reason and logic.
In the first instance, you're correct, and those saying they should be deported are correct.
In the second instance, I think not--and I believe that in this instance, the latter trumps the former, hence the EO/joint act with the DHS today.
Now, a LOT of talking heads on the media outlets have used the phrase "Rule of Law" today, and chastised the President from the Right side of the aisle for allegedly not holding to that.
Well, an EO *is* part of the law of the land in the US, the President is allowed to do that.
And acting with the DHS is also part of the law of the land.
They might conflict with *other* (ie, Congressional) laws of the land...but that's then the fault of the system for having conflicting rules, and not the fault of those using the political opportunities they have to their advantage to try and remedy a situation.
Now--there are MILLIONS of illegal immigrants in the US.
It is against logic to think we can uproot them all and boot them out.
It is against logic to think we can do that morally or without backlash at home and abroad.
It is against reason to tear families apart based on illegal immigration.
It is against reason to remove people who have been here for years, who have grown up here, have broken no laws, have sought employment and to go to college and be a contributing member of society.
THAT is what I mean when I say it is unjust--in the abstract rather than the concrete.
The two need one another--
Abstract needs concrete in order to be enacted,
Concrete needs Abstract in order to be "truly just."
After all, Free Speech is legal because of a Concrete Reason (it's protected) and the Abstract idea of justice behind that (it's a right that all should have in order to be free.)
The immigration law today is correct in the Concrete, I'd argue, and NOT in the Abstract...and this is a position both parties share, as both agree the system is broken and needs fixing, so clearly the Abstract backing behind it is flawed at the moment, and so to follow it blindly without reassessing it is dangerous and, for those who would've been deported, tragic.
The've done nothing wrong, they came here younger than 16, those that are covered, so they came as MINORS, and thus, we may punish PARENTS, perhaps, but as the child has now built a life here and gone to college and built a US life and is American in all but the paperwork, I'd argue it's not just to deport such a child.
Hence the reasoning behind this EO/DHS act.
"It *would* be unjustified for the immigrants who went through the process of becoming a legal resident and eventually a citizen and have the same status as a common trespasser, all based on an unconstitutional political power play by the president."
Nevertheless, extreme times call for extreme measures--
If you are facing war, poverty, or both in your homeland, you REALLY don't have time to wait months or years to placate the feelings of those who can or choose to wait in line, do you?
It is a STRUGGLE to immigrate to the US...it's incredibly hard...
For the millions that get in, many millions more try--and yet they keep trying, because of what America has to offer, because they believe in it, and because they don't have the luxury of waiting...
In hundreds of thousands of cases, if not more, it's Illegal Immigration vs. The Risk of Death.
If you were in their shoes, what would you do?
And imagine now that you came here as a child, and have spent your whole life here illegally because your parents came illegally--
Is it fair for you to be kicked out because of what your parents did, when you yourself have been a model US citizen, as the plan Obama has laid out essentially covers (younger than 16 when arriving, younger than 30 presently, graduating HS/in the military, and no felonies, etc.)...
It isn't "Just" in the Abtstract, moralistic sense to deport such a person, hence the decision today, and why I back it, because to back the Concrete when the Concrete is admittedly flawed and unworkable at present is illogical and, in the case of deporting those I describe and those Obama is granting a deferment for, I'd argue morally wrong and cold-hearted to deport people who have been law-abiding and truly want to be here, and the only reason they're not here "legally" is either A. Mom and Dad brought them over illegally as a child and they had no say in the matter and are too entrenched to go back now, or else B. There was a situation like El Salvador and for children it was "Leave the country now or face the prospect of becoming a child soldier or else shot," or crushing poverty, in which case, basic survival instinct HAS to prevail, and you don't have TIME to wait 6-18 months on a broken system when you could be *dead* by then easily, it's *immoral* to tell someone to wait in line and die rather than run to safety.