Trump has promised to deport all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. Millions of families will be torn apart. Millions of lives will be unraveled.

We ask that President Obama continue on the legacy of Hope and boldly act to protect the futures of these parents, children, workers, friends, neighbors, sisters, brothers.

Use the power that the Constitution grants the office of the President to pardon these folks for "offenses against the United States" as Jimmy Carter did in 1977 for half a million men who avoided military service in Vietnam. A power exercised also by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

To be clear, people in the U.S. without documents are not criminals because it's not a criminal offense, but a civil violation.

So can a pardon, which is irrevocable unlike Executive Orders like DACA, even work? 

Peter L. Markowitz, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, says this:

"It’s a common assumption that pardons can be used only for criminal offenses, and it’s true that they have not been used before for civil immigration violations. However, the Constitution extends the power to all “offenses against the United States,” which can be interpreted more broadly than just criminal offenses."

Prove to the world that we are a country of hope, compassion and unity and not one of hate, fear and division.

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Andy J. Semotiuk, an immigration attorney, writes in a Forbes opinion piece:

"It is no secret that the United States has a problem with its immigration system. It is not reasonable, fair, orderly, or secure in the way President Reagan once said it should be.

As President Carter once pointed out, “there is a permanent ’underclass’ of millions of people who,” (despite what Donald Trump contends) “cannot practicably be deported and who continue living in perpetual fear of immigration authorities, the local police, employers and neighbors.”  They hide in the shadows, without access to many of the benefits of a free and open society – not being able to step into the sunlight or ever to become Americans. We are not talking here about violent criminals or gang members seeking to terrorize our streets – everyone agrees they should be deported. Instead we are talking about the vast majority of undocumented immigrants who, apart from their entry into the U.S.A., are law-abiding residents looking for a new life as productive members of society.

[...] Why did these people come to America and what are they doing here? The answer is most came to escape grinding hopelessness, lives of despair or even worse, back home. They are the ones who, over many years, usually for minimum wages, have cleaned our homes,  washed our clothes, helped us look after our children, repaired our houses, manicured our lawns, fixed our cars and picked our crops. They joined our churches and community leagues, while their children grew up with ours in our schools. With the exception of a minority of them, they have paid their taxes to support themselves and their families. In short, over many years, they have built up the equities to earn the right to stay in the United States." 

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Peter L. Markowitz in this New York Times opinion:

"We are left with a brutal legacy of millions of families torn apart, many simply for doing what they needed to do to protect and feed their children. President Obama will not be judged on his intentions or his attempts on immigration, but rather on his real impact. This is his last chance to establish a legacy of pragmatic compassion." 

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Photo by Fibonnaci Blue on Flickr