ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF FIDELITY, NONMALEFICENCE AND VERACITY AND DACA 1

Ethical Principles of Fidelity, Nonmaleficence and Veracity and DACA

Michael E. Long Sr.

EAM 3053

Arkansas Tech University

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF FIDELITY, NONMALEFICENCE AND VERACITY AND DACA 2

Michael E Long Sr.

EAM 3053 Introduction to Ethical and Legal Issues in Emergency Management

Dr. Sandy M. Smith

Arkansas Tech University

The ethical principles I have chosen to describe are the principles of fidelity,

nonmaleficence and veracity. The article I chose to use in my discussion of these ethical

principles is about DACA. I had to read many articles to use veracity (conformity or devotion to

the truth or facts).

California, Minnesota, Maryland and Maine filed a lawsuit to challenge President

Trumps decision to eliminate DACA. Attorney General Xavier Becerra claims that Ttrumps

order to rescind DACA is unlawful and argues that due process is being sidestepped (fidelity, a

duty to honor the commitments made in the past). Which is ironic considering President Trump

announced in his speech that President Obama did the same thing by enacting or creating a law

which is reserved for Congress according to the Constitution.

President Obama enacted DACA to help illegal immigrants obtain work legally. Becerra

contends that President Trumps action would hurt the economy of many of the states. If true this

would violate the ethical principle of nonmaleficence (the principle that we should do no harm).

While no one really wants or should not want to hurt others we need to consider the veracity of

this matter.
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According to the Migration Policy Institute 1.9 million were eligible for DACA in 2016.

And the US Citizenship and Immigration Services reported that about 788,000 have had their

request for DACA accepted. Only 31 years of age or younger immigrants could apply for

DACA. According to these facts if DACA was to continue the number under the program would

have the potential to increase tremendously. However, if DACA is successfully eliminated or

stopped it would open a lot of jobs for the people who are legal residents that are currently

unemployed.

That is why the controversy about DACA is so volatile. Legal residents are having a

tough time getting jobs, even though the unemployment rate has dropped. That is because the

figures used to determine the unemployment rate was changed by Obama eliminating from the

count many unemployed Americans, giving a false impression of the true (veracity) situation.

While on the other hand it helps illegal immigrants to have the ability to find meaningful work

without threat of deportation.

The most interesting thing I find about the entire situation and the implications it has on

ethics, is that if Obama had honored the fidelity of his office and not taken powers of Congress

to enact DACA. President Trump would have been able to avoid stating the veracity of Obamas

actions and would not have to use the fidelity of his office to stop DACA. Oddly enough this

would have enabled President Trump to practice the ethic principal of nonmaleficence in this

situation.
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References

Ability of Unauthorized Aliens to Claim Refundable Tax Credits - EveryCRSReport.com.

(2012, July 26). Retrieved from https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R42628.html

GLUM 8/30/17 AT 3:47 PM, J. (2017, August 30). DACA by the Numbers: 15 Facts About the

Youth Immigration Program Trump Could Soon Shut Down. Retrieved from

http://www.newsweek.com/dreamers-daca-statistics-trump-deadline-657201

Siders, D. (2017, September 11). California files suit against Trump on DACA - POLITICO.

Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/11/california-daca-lawsuit-

trump-242560