Even the one-time community organizer probably didn’t think California would move this quickly.

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Call it the law of intended consequences.

When President Barack Obama decided he could rewrite America’s immigration laws without any input from Congress, he opened the floodgates for liberals at all levels of government to legitimize illegal aliens through bureaucratic fiat. 

But even the one-time community organizer probably didn’t think California would move this quickly. 

First, some context. 

On June 15, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency in the Department of Homeland Security, rolled out the specifics of a plan President Obama announced in the White House Rose Garden earlier that month. 

USCIS calls Obama’s program, “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA).  According to the USCIS website, DACA would apply to any illegal immigrant who entered the United States under the age of 16 who was also under the age of 31 on June 15, 2012. 

“Deferred action” means that federal immigration authorities will delay deportation proceedings against any DACA-protected illegal immigrant for up to two years.

Although initially the White House estimated the number of DACA-eligible illegal immigrants at 800,000, the Migration Policy Institute, a pro-amnesty group, pegged the total number at 1.76 million, more than double. 

According to an MPI press release, part of the reason for the larger count was that the White House didn’t include high school drop-outs who can be covered “as long as they have re-enrolled by the date of their application…” 

But wait, there’s more. 

Along with promising not to deport otherwise illegal immigrants, Obama’s DACA program also grants work permits to people who would otherwise be illegal employees.     

Got that?  Without any legal authority, the Obama Administration not only is refusing to apply current deportation law to a select group of illegal immigrants, it is also issuing government documents that will override existing federal sanctions on businesses that employ illegal immigrants. 

And, since California accepts a federal Employment Authorization Card as proof of a person’s legal presence in the U.S., making a new class of federally approved alien workers will have ripple effects on state practice.  With DACA in mind, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles released a statement on August 21 that Obama’s new work authorization documents may entitle the holders to a state driver’s license. 

The DMV’s statement was quickly followed by approval from Democratic Governor Jerry Brown’s office, and a pledge by the state legislature’s leading licenses-for-illegals supporter to offer any changes to existing law to speed up the process. 

The changes would be needed because California law explicitly prohibits an illegal immigrant from receiving a driver’s license.  The policy rationale is that it would make no sense to extend the privilege of driving on a public road to a person who isn’t in the country legally.  In a very basic way, giving an illegal immigrant a driver’s license blurs the distinction between being a citizen and being an illegal immigrant. 

Which is the point entirely. 

At his core, President Obama would prefer to grant a blanket amnesty to the estimated 10 million illegal immigrants residing in the United States to get 10 million new Democratic voters.  But since a majority of Americans and their representatives in Congress oppose amnesty, he’s content to start the process through a backdoor program. 

The intended consequences are clear.  If DACA goes into effect, more than a million illegal immigrants will help establish a widespread bureaucratic precedent that treats them almost like citizens.   They won’t be eligible for deportation, but they will be allowed to work without sanctioning their employers.  And some liberal states like California will reinterpret their own laws to give unlawful residents one of the most widely used mediums for gaining a permanent entry into American society.

Once that happens, it will only be a matter of time before a liberal activist judge enshrines a widespread bureaucratic precedent into an inviolable legal right. 

It’s a legal consequence President Obama no doubt intends.  It can and should be stopped.