Seek a compromise

Conventional wisdom says that with Congress so evenly divided, nothing will get done for the next two years. Instead of paying for two years of nothing, I would like to see our legislators put the good of the country first and pound out a compromise on immigration. I know immigration is a complex/complicated issue and compromise seems like a forgotten skill of a long-ago past. However, solving problems is why we send people to Washington.

We are a nation of immigrants. Having fair and reasonable policies is not partisan. Ask your representatives to reach across the aisle and do the hard work of finding compromises.

We Americans are a generous people who believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I also think that we listen to our better angels when we honor the sentiments of Emma Lazarus’ poem on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

ROBERT BARNES North Little Rock