Travis Rowley: A Letter To An Undocumented Student

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Travis Rowley, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

Dear Undocumented Student,

Regarding the Board of Governors for Higher Education, I had the chance to attend its meeting on Monday night, and also the chance to observe the body of teenage students – some illegal aliens, and some devoted friends – that you were a part of.

The occasion reminded me of a time when I was closer to your age (I’m currently 31 years old), a period that can be accurately described as a transition into adulthood and – more importantly for the matter at hand – into adult citizenship.

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One particular incident came to mind. I was almost fifteen years old, and was a member of Bishop Hendricken’s freshman football team. After suffering a very difficult loss to West Warwick, it was clear to one of my coaches the following day that I was still upset over the outcome of the game. My coach pulled me aside and, in one of those moments that inexplicably becomes a vivid memory, said, “You know, sometimes you don’t get the W. But you win something else.” He was referring to the timeless lessons people often take away from athletics – how to deal with loss and pain; and how to use setbacks to become a better person, so you can increase your chances of succeeding the next time. I’ve always found that sports are profoundly American, and I’ve always appreciated this particular lesson.

If you were observant at all on Monday night, you must have noticed the passion of the people standing against you, and the fact that they suffered a very emotional defeat. I was one of those people standing against you.

Despite how things tend to be publicly framed, Monday night was not a war between good and evil people. It was certainly a matter of right and wrong. But not good and evil. You and your parents are not bad people. Your opponents are not racists. And regardless of the contempt you saw aimed toward them, the members of the Board of Governors are not bad people either.

But they have become key players in an immoral government process.

Study The Declaration

It is my sincere hope that you recognize the name of King George III, and that your teachers have forced you to study with seriousness the Declaration of Independence (many of your foes from Monday night seriously doubt it).

In the event that their suspicions are correct, I have a desire to address the very first sentence of that document, in which America’s Founding Fathers expressed their willingness to list their reasons for severing all ties to England, writing that “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” The “long train of abuses and usurpations” committed by the “present King of Great Britain” that they then begin to itemize focus initially on the importance of laws and the appropriate methods of lawmaking; and they express disdain for the King’s offenses to the “right of Representation” and “Representative Houses.” The King had also “erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.” He had “combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation.” He had “[established]…an Arbitrary government, and enlarg[ed] its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing…absolute rule.” The Founders criticized the King for “taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments.”

A reading of the Declaration of Independence helps us remember that the law is the protector of liberty, and realize that America’s concept of “tyranny” is not necessarily one of cruelty and bloodshed, but that it has always been closely tied to the conditions of “taxation without representation” and the absence of “checks and balances.” In America after July 4, 1776, one man – whether referred to as king, governor, or president – would no longer be able to impose his will upon the people without being seriously checked by equally powerful bodies of government. Among other defenses, an elected legislature would be a guardian of liberty against any future tyrants. And vice versa.

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Governor Consolidated Government Into One Branch

If you were listening at all on Monday night, surely you heard the outcries over the “process” and the “end-around” that was taking place. These were all terms that rightfully objected to Governor Chafee’s appointment of strategic allies to an unelected and unaccountable body of political insiders – “Officers” of “New Offices” of an “Arbitrary government” with “jurisdiction foreign to our constitution” that had “enlarg[ed] its Boundaries,” and “alter[ed] fundamentally the Forms of our Governments,” voting to confirm “Acts of pretended Legislation” that would help to introduce “absolute rule.”

Because the current policy in question is overwhelmingly rejected in the minds of Rhode Island voters, and has struggled for years to receive approval from their elected representatives, Governor Chafee simply consolidated the state’s lawmaking power into one branch of government.

And when it was argued that offering in-state tuition rates to undocumented students would cause Rhode Islanders – already some of the most highly taxed citizens in the country – to be taxed even more, one of your most ardent supporters taunted, “If so, so be it.” At that moment, weren’t you “harass[ing] our people, and eat[ing] out their substance?”

It is with sincere sadness and regret that I inform you that, while you celebrated your victory on Monday night, you were reviving tyranny. You were breathing life back into “taxation without representation.” On Monday night, you were King George.

I understand that you wish to become an American. If that day comes, I only ask that you be a good American. You can begin by imagining yourself on the receiving end of such bureaucratic tyranny, and think about whether your recent political activism helped to advance, or erode, individual rights and freedoms.

Seventeen years ago my coach asked me to consider what I had won from a loss. Similarly, I ask you to consider what you may have lost from your win.

Travis Rowley
RI Young Republicans, Chairman
www.TravisRowley.com
 

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