And Immigration, Too

AMERICA receives more immigrants than any other country. But its system for dealing with them is a model of dysfunctionality, with 11.9m illegally present in 2008, up 42% since 2000. Past efforts at reform have failed dismally. In 2006 protesters filled city streets after the House of Representatives passed a bill making illegal immigration a felony; but the proposal failed to pass muster in the Senate. The Senate's own effort in 2007 fared even worse. Police clashed with a crowd in Los Angeles. Opponents of reform barraged senators with so many calls that their phone system crashed. The Senate's bill, designed to please all sides, ended up pleasing no one.

Now Washington may try again.

--"All together now," The Economist (April 18, 2009)

You wouldn't think that President Obama's agenda or calendar could possibly accomodate another critical issue any time soon. Yet, his staff say that later this year Obama will address immigration reform and a process for legalizing illegal immigrants. Some advocacy groups expect to hear from Obama on the subject as early as next month, May. Major unions like the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win coalition of unions have changed course and now are active advocates for the reform process. Business, too, although their agenda and that of the unions reflect notably differing interests.

It is time for intelligent, principled and pragmatic reform of our immigration policies and processes. We are after all, the great nation of immigrants: immigrants are who we are, and immigration is a foundation stone of our greatness. We should be able to manage this process a lot better than we do. It is also time for a fair and reasonable process for allowing illegal immigrants to achieve legal status as guest workers or legal immigrants.

But let's not press the issue precipitously or unwisely. The president is already up to his eyes in alligators with the economy and international issues and relationships. Rather, let's be patient enough to allow Obama and his team to get their timing right, be sure their allies are aligned and prepared, that a strong set of policies and plans are crafted, and that the necesssary time and effort has been devoted to informing and preparing the public. I do expect that he will get it right. From The Economist article:

When Mr Obama may dip his toe in these choppy waters, let alone dive in, remains unclear. "The president has consistently said that he wants to start the discussion later this year," says Nick Shapiro, a spokesman for the White House. "But the economy comes first."

Sounds about right to me.

[For my reflections on these subjects, see my 2007 essay "Strangers, Different Folk,'" one of my Cassandra's Tears essays. And if you view yourself as a Christian, you may also be interested in my recent blog post, "Reminders for Christians," below.]


http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13496202