The Wrong Tactic

The recent decision by Speaker of the House John Boehner to pass a clean, no-strings-attached bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security for the rest of fiscal year 2015 is a laudable end to a media circus that has set a regrettable precedent for the last two years of President Obama's term. Both our previous support for the President's immigration ideas and our opposition to the President's methods remain unchanged; however, the response should never be to hamstring critical government functions and budgetary priorities in an effort to score political points.

For Congressional Republicans who doubt the legality of the President's executive action on immigration, the appropriate recourse does not lie in stopping the critical business of government; instead, a legislative solution that renders executive action either unnecessary or irrelevant ought to be found. Republicans and Democrats alike have agreed on the need for comprehensive immigration reform, stopped only by Congressional gridlock and partisan bickering. The Republicans could end the standoff by swiftly approving a complete immigration reform plan.

There is a right way and a wrong way. The strategy that the Republicans have taken is clearly misguided. The attempt to shut down the Department of Homeland Security is especially pernicious because it continues a dangerous trend of conservative attempts to use unrelated federal responsibilities as leverage over specific political positions. Recent examples of this dangerous tactic of brinksmanship include the 2014 government shutdown, as well as the debates over the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling.

Such a trend seriously threatens the ability of our government to function properly, if any and every political disagreement could suddenly consume the totality of government. Of course, the Republicans are correct in saying that a link exists between immigration reform and the DHS. After all, it is the DHS that enforces our immigration laws, but their responsibilities also include so much more. The DHS protects our borders, our airports, and our President; the DHS operates search and rescue helicopters, hurricane aid stations, and lighthouses; the department catches drug smugglers, counterfeiters, and human traffickers. These are all essential government functions that should not be compromised by an issue connected to immigration policy solely through the accidental whims of bureaucracy and government organizational charts.

Over the next two years, there will undoubtedly be numerous issues on which the President and the Speaker will strongly disagree—including more disagreements over immigration policy. The smooth and effective functioning of this nation’s government requires that these disagreements end not in dangerous threats and ultimatums, but instead in compromise, as elusive as that may be. We commend Speaker Boehner for ultimately choosing pragmatism over devastating partisanship, but it is a sad day when the path to that compromise must add a question mark to the government's operating hours.