By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | Immigration has historically helped our aging nation in numerous ways. The key question is “Who do we admit?” For example, most Americans support bringing in computer geniuses, doctors and nurses, as well as others who are filling jobs Americans do not want, such as seasonal agricultural workers.
We can build all the walls we want to, but as long as there are jobs here that do not pay enough to attract American citizens, illegal immigrants will seek to come here and take them. However, we must have policies in place to control the flow, which is now excessive.
Neither party has been adequately addressing our current immigration crisis. The Democrats have been lax in acknowledging that the USA’s current policies are inadequate. Plus, pushed by Donald Trump’s self-interest, the Republicans clearly want to use the crisis as a political issue rather than solving the problem. Thus, we see the GOP House and Speaker Mike Johnson impeaching Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for implementing policy decisions (which is not a criteria for impeachment.)
A bipartisan group in the Senate, which included rightwing Senator Lankford, came up with a most conservative but sensible immigration plan. But ex-president Trump vetoed it simply because he wants to use immigration as a 2024 campaign issue. So, gutless Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell withdrew GOP support, even though the Republicans were getting virtually everything they wanted.
Years ago, President George W. Bush outlined a comprehensive immigration strategy:
- The United States must secure its borders.
- We must hold employers accountable for the workers they hire.
- To secure our border, we must create a temporary worker program.
- We must bring undocumented workers already in the country out of the shadows and provide a path to citizenship.
- We must promote assimilation into our society by teaching new immigrants English and American values.
It’s sad that W’s party did not support his reasonable solution to the immigration crisis decades ago. Since then, the situation has just gotten worse because of Congressional inaction. It is even sadder that, spurred by Trump, his party continues to believe that the sole solution is building a wall and having Mexico pay for it. How dumb is that?
Clearly, we should only admit people who have values compatible with ours. Screening individuals will be difficult in failed nations. But America has always been a melting pot. We must find ways for a solution.
But Trump is not sensible, and seeks more power. He’s running a xenophobic, nationalistic campaign, pandering to those disliking immigration of anyone not purely white. To be true to our ideals, America should not say that we refuse to accept people of a certain religion or race, as Trump advocates. Both Republicans and Democrats must agree on this principle, or our nation will turn its back on our core values.
Historically, we are far from perfect. America has had discriminatory policies that have been applied to keep out “undesirables” as defined by the times.
We must make sure that we do not continue to discriminate while ensuring that we stay safe and add citizens who help fill our economic needs. The key is balance. The GOP’s Speaker Johnson and Senate Minority Leader McConnell must have the courage to move on immigration.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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