Matthew 6:12, Revised U.S. Congressional Version
The Supreme Court has upheld the longstanding tradition of prayer before legislative sessions. A good Congressional prayer, however, should seek God’s blessing of whatever Congress is doing – or not doing – at the time. The above translation of the Lord’s Prayer serves that purpose.
Many Members of Congress say they believe there will be a Judgment Day, a point that is emphasized in the weeks leading up to Election Day. We can say this prayer often and hope not to hear in reply those dreaded two words: “NO AMNESTY.”
Or we can go back to more traditional prayers, as well as back to our traditional religious and civic values, and then do something to fix the mess that purports to be U.S. immigration law.
We could at the same time cast aside hypocrisy with respect to another principle that politicians talk about almost as often as they talk about religion: free market economics. It is perhaps time for the government to stop using immigration law to prevent willing workers from working for the people who want to hire them. The vast majority of economists (at least those not running for Congress) view restrictive immigration laws with no more favor than do the vast majority of theologians and religious leaders.
And for those who think this comment is not relevant to lawyers and their ethics: Who is it that implements – or rather tries to implement -- these laws that Congress won’t fix? Over a dozen pages of my legal ethics casebook with Judge Noonan are devoted to this problem, and there will be dozens more if something is not done about it.