© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
No one knows what the immigration
laws are any longer so people with legal status in our country and those
without legal status have no idea what government agencies are going to do.
I am sure it is not true that we
have the cure for cancer but the medical field and pharmaceutical companies are
making so much money they don’t want to cure cancer. Again, probably not true
but I hear that said.
It is true that when it comes to
immigration reform, neither party wants to fix this broken system since they
are getting political contributions from frustrated citizens on every side of
the dispute. More on that shortly.
But what is the controversy? The
immigration laws of our country, specifically, the Immigration Reform and
Control Act known as Simpson-Mazzoli Act enacted in November of 1986 is not
being enforced. Some people think we need immigration reform while others think
we should enforce the existing immigration laws.
What is the most unfair is that both
political parties have spent thirty years fundraising and not dealing with the
immigration issues. Namely, there are millions of people in our country without
legal status. This is the strategy of both parties to have millions of people
who are uncertain of what our government is going to do.
Recently President Trump started an
effort to deport people without legal status who have committed felonies. Both
political sides are showboating the issue while millions of people, heck, the
entire population of our country, both those with legal status and those
without legal status have no idea what will happen.
In a nation of laws, it is unconscionable
to have laws but not obey them. I don’t blame the people in our country without
legal status because both political parties have barked about the issue but only
looked at it to get political contributions. We should either follow the laws,
make more specific laws or amend the laws. We should never ignore our laws.
The political climate harms our
nation in many ways. First, people without legal status often do not get the
legal protection of our laws because they don’t want to be involved in a legal
system that will note that they are without legal status. Criminals often take
advantage of these people because they rarely report crimes.
It is unfair to immigrants who
followed the laws to gain legal status to have millions of people who are
jumping the immigration lines. It is especially unfair to have immigration
processes that often take more than ten years. We can send people to the moon
and back safely, but we cannot operate an immigration system.
Yes, I know that it doesn’t operate
so that politicians can use the fear, uncertainty and doubt to drive their
fundraising efforts. I see a whole lot of dysfunction that is intentional.
So, what to do? Obviously, stop
using immigration issues for fundraising. We will never get viable solutions
when “There’s gold in them ills.” I see three possible actions which will be
opposed by the political animals because they will reduce fundraising.
First, before enacting immigration
reform go back and see what was wrong with the 1986 Immigration Reform Act. Is
it a problem of enforcement or wrong solutions? Second, endeavor to not have a
shadow society since that isn’t good for anyone except politicians. Finally,
find ways to have win win solutions instead of the normal political one side wins
while the other side loses.
I often say to never use a political
solution for a non-political problem, be it education, the military, the
economy or immigration. Finally, the political trolls on both sides who only want
to call people names and make our society unpleasant, they cannot be part of any
solution. We must make our society better despite the actions of our fundraising
politicians.
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