During my tenure as a high school teacher of U.S. history and American government, I would encourage our students to breakdown and examine information before debating or formulating their position on a particular topic.
Given the surge in interpretative challenges to the United States Constitution by the Trump administration regarding immigration regulations, deportation roundups in American cities and the rights of the individual, I now wonder how my classes would handle the following question: “Is the original idea of America and the promise pledged 238 years ago still alive today or fading into the gray?
Would James Madison and the boys be hollering, “Whoa, hold your horses, that’s not exactly the meaning nor the way we meant it to be interpreted back in 1787.” Today is it foolhardy to discuss anything that might have the slightest speck of negativity toward White House initiatives or hint of promoting fair treatment and full participation for all members of society?
I’d be interested to see how our classroom discussions would evolve. I might slip in some personal perspective just to get the ball rolling, conveying how my grandmother, furnished with $20 and a sponsor in waiting, passed through Ellis Island in the early 1900s.
She and my grandfather, both from Austria-Hungary, eventually met in the United States, adding to the melting pot of immigrants that helped build this country. They modeled the importance of cultural heritage and how to live it with genuine grace and gritty determination even while assimilating into a new and ever-changing nation.
I’d explain how their pride in hard work and devotion to family (raising nine children during the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war 1950s) helped establish solid sets of values passed down to 35 grandchildren representing a generation of young baby boomers.
I would anticipate a wide-range of student responses. To start the discussion I’d ask: How has the broken immigration system (fault of both parties) resulted in an atmosphere where hard-working people — doing essential jobs few Americans desire — are demonized for trying to make a better life for their children? And, why a promise to remove violent criminals has morphed into warrantless Immigration and Customer Enforcement raids at farms, factories and Home Depots?
I’d mention over 3 million active cases are pending before immigration courts, a number that has tripled since 2019. (PBS News Hour 8/28/25). I would interject how my grandparents gained entry by an inspector wearing a badge and holding a piece of chalk marking clothing that identified and determined their fate. Depending on an inspector’s observation or ill-timed mood you either continued on or were removed for further examination.
President Trump, keeping his campaign promise to secure the border, has been calling immigration an invasion while utilizing the obscure Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The law gives the president the power to repel sudden attacks threatening the states and as he sees it, gives him the green light to deport those the administration deems violent criminals, gang members or undocumented.
Consider, a good number of the invaders are migrant workers; in 2023 educational and health services employed the most immigrants — 5.5 million, or 18.4% of all foreign-born workers. In the same year 4.7 million foreign-born works were in professional and business services and 3.3 million in the construction trades.
If we were to frame these examples gathered by students from well-respected sources in this kind of context, would I need to be wary of administrative repercussions? What if we discussed how words and actions could be perceived by the public when the resident looks to interpret and circumvent Article II of the Constitution?
Throughout history, I’d point out, that the balance between the three independent branches of government has been relatively in line with what those 55 sweaty delegates in Philadelphia had in mind. But now, it feels different.
As James Madison had warned in Federalist #10, “In a free society based on majority rule, factions consisting of a minority of the citizens are not constitutionally dangerous. However, if a majority composes a faction, might makes right; in other words, power rather than justice becomes the basis of public decisions.”
The real power of democracy — freedom and courage — are held in the hearts of families who braved fickle seas, walked thousands of miles, crossed unfamiliar and treacherous borders in search of a better way to discover for themselves — the promise of America.
This is a contributed opinion column. John Schmoyer is a retired U.S. history/American government teacher and department chair at Northwestern Lehigh School District. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author, and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. Do you have a perspective to share? Learn more about how we handle guest opinion submissions at themorningcall.com/opinions.
https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/19/opinion-america-started-with-a-promise-now-under-threat-of-fading/
