re: "Dreamers"

Sad news that Dr. Jerry Pournelle has passed away peacefully in his sleep.

In his most recent post at Chaos Manor ("The Original Blog and Daybook"), he offered a solution to the problem of the "DREAMers."

"The news is full of the Dreamers. The Constitution says the President must take care to see that the laws are faithfully enforced. Mr. Trump didn’t want to deport the “Dreamers”, particularly those who have integrated into the society, but the law gives him no leeway, and the Presidential Order Obama signed giving them amnesty is unconstitutional. He solved that dilemma by giving it back to Congress who created it. We’ll now see what happens.

I can solve part of the problem. Any volunteer of any age who serves 7 years overseas in Army or Marines gets a Green Card and an application to apply for Citizenship along with his honorable discharge. The Citizenship application and test need not be very difficult and I would expect all who applied to pass it. The swearing should be public and conducted by an officer of rank Colonel or above.

As to girls, we can think of something similar or suitable; they need not join the combat arms. Surgical Assistant comes instantly to mind.

Their parents are a more difficult problem, and it will take ingenuity to find a path that does not offend the legal immigrants who obeyed the law."

Aside from one or two occasions when we crossed paths in various comment threads, I did not know the man personally.  I did have the good fortune to hear him speak at the (posthumous) Smithsonian Institution presentation to Robert Heinlein's widow (Virginia Heinlein) of NASA's Distinguished Public Service Medal on October 8, 1988.  He was a gentleman and a thinker and an inspiration to many.  He will be missed.