With all due respect to mom & pop, as a consequence of the parents of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush not making sure that their children were taught about the federal government’s constitutionally limited powers, these presidents probably didn’t even consider the possibility that they were wrongly usurping 10th Amendment-protected state power to regulate intrastate immigration by granting amnesty to illegal immigrants imo.
Regarding so-called federal immigration laws, please consider the following. Regardless of PC interpretations of the Constitution’s Uniform Rule of Naturalization Clause, such interpretations used to foster the idea that the feds have the constitutional authority to regulate immigration, note that Thomas Jefferson had clarified the following about so-called federal government power to regulate immigration. Using language from the 10th Amendment nonetheless, Jefferson had written that the Founding States had never delegated to the feds the specific power to regulate immigration.
“4. _Resolved_, That alien friends are under the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of the State wherein they are: that no power over them has been delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the individual States, distinct from their power over citizens. And it being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” the act of the Congress of the United States, passed on the — day of July, 1798, intituled “An Act concerning aliens,” which assumes powers over alien friends, not delegated by the Constitution, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no force [emphasis added].” —Thomas Jefferson, Draft of the Kentucky Resolutions - October 1798.
Regarding executive orders to pardon illegal immigrants, note that a president doesn’t have the absolute power to pardon, imo, like many people seem to think. This is because Congress uniquely has the legislative power to define what an illegal immigrant is, at least conceptually. But since the states have never delegated to Congress the power to legislatively address immigration issues, federal laws that define illegal immigrants are “void, and of no force” as Jefferson had written imo.
So the POTUS doesn’t have any broken federal immigration laws to pardon since Congress has no constitutional authority to make such laws in the first place.
H O W E V E R …
I doubt that the RINO-controlled Congress that we will have shortly is going to do anything about Obama’s constitutionally indefensible E.O.’s to pardon illegal immigrants, simply because the 10th Amendment is the best kept secret in DC.
Not any more! Hard to argue that it is unknown.
However there are probably hundreds of laws passed since the end of the 19th century to militate the "progressive" counterargument that many laws passed since have invalidated whatever understanding once existed regarding citizenship; unconstitutional or not.