Immigration issue will decide who we are as a nation
One of the hot-button issues of our time, perhaps for all time in the United States, is immigration. When carefully considered, it raises a number of questions about who we are as a nation and what we want to be. The last four years have seen the greatest restrictions on immigration in recent memory. By contrast, the Biden administration is putting before the Congress the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which includes the most sweeping reforms since 1986. Let’s consider questions about particular immigrant groups, our personal and national values, and our own stories of how we came to be here.
Do Dreamers (undocumented immigrants who came to the
U.S. as children) deserve a clear path to full citizenship? The National Immigration Forum estimates that there could be 3.6 million people in this category, only 363,000 of whom are currently protected from deportation through the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. The 3.6 million are only a third of an estimated 11 million undocumented people who live here now.
Do legitimate asylum seekers, especially from Mexico and Central America, deserve entrance to the U.S? Many who are in grave danger from drug cartels, other organized crime groups, and gangs have journeyed toward our border to reach safety for themselves and their families. According to the American Immigration Council, “Asylum is a protection granted to foreign nationals already in the United States or arriving at the border who meet the international law definition of a ‘refugee’--a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her home country, and cannot obtain protection in that country, due to past persecution or a well-founded fear of being persecuted in the future ‘on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.’ Congress incorporated this definition into U.S. immigration law in 1980.”
Another important area to the United States over the last two decades is the Middle East. Should we allow people from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria who have supported American military and political operations to enter our country when they are directly threatened by extremist groups? For example, the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan
may throw various ethnic groups into greater chaos and extensive violence against anyone who has opposed the Taliban, who are likely to assume power. Afghans who have been trained by and fought alongside American troops will be in grave danger. If properly vetted, do those who wish for it deserve to become immigrants?
Other questions on this important topic may include the following: What is your greatest fear about allowing members of these groups legal entry into our country? What is your greatest hope for them? In a nation with a declining birth rate and an increasing number of senior citizens, do we need more immigrants to support our workforce and provide more tax revenues? If you are a member of a particular religion, what do the founders, prophets or holy scriptures of your community have to say about this topic? And what is your own immigration/ancestry story?
In the words of George W. Bush, “It says something about our country that people around the world are willing to leave their homes and leave their families and risk everything to come to America. Their talent and hard work and love of freedom have helped make America the leader of the world.
And our generation will ensure that America remains a beacon of liberty and the most hopefilled society this world has ever known.”