Questions for a candidate, from his former teacher
A former student of mine wrote me a nice note of congratulations when I retired from teaching. His name is Kevin Dellicker, and he is now running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 7th District as a Republican. I often receive emails from his campaign that describe his background and politics on certain matters. One such correspondence highlighted his views on the thorny issue of immigration.
Just like when Kevin was in my class in the late 1980s at Northwestern Lehigh, I found myself agreeing with some of his ideas and questioning others. For example, he listed ways he would attack the problem. He wrote of the need for “stricter standards for granting asylum, tighter provisions for offering parole, and faster resolution of immigration cases.” I agree, and as I started asking myself questions, I began slipping into teacher mode.
Would your policy resemble the Biden administration’s Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule set in May that severely restricts access to asylum on migration at the U.S.-Mexico border?
It offers exceptions to the parole process for people from countries most at risk, creating limits akin to the Quota Acts of the 1920s.
And, it forces immigrants to obtain a passport and find a U.S.based sponsor who will support them financially. These are similar stipulations that confronted my grandparents when they migrated from Austria-Hungary in 1914.
From a historical standpoint, not much seems to have changed over the last 110 years. However, now the high volume of illegal border crossings has created a more dangerous situation for immigrants and border agents, and placed greater burdens on local communities and states.
Kevin called for “better physical barriers to prevent illegal entry … and support our border control agents.” As an educator I’d ask: Is completing a border wall the answer and accordingly, what would prevent circumvention and who would continue building and paying for it?
And, do you think a greater emphasis on additional immigration judges to expedite cases, cutting-edge inspection machines to detect and stop the flow of drugs, and increased human presence at the border could help stem the tide of illegal entries?
Yes, border control agents need to be markedly reinforced. They should also have increased benefits and incentives from the federal government. It’s neither an easy nor appealing job. Knowing that he is a 28-year veteran in the National Guard, I would imagine his military experience could be quite helpful in committee meetings.
I’m well on board with trying to fix the complex immigration crisis. I recognize the border states’ angst of feeling helpless to slow the influx. “We must only admit immigrants in a manner that benefits Americans and with a system that is orderly, just, and fair,” Kevin added. I concur.
But, as a grandson of grandparents who migrated from Central Europe, faced discrimination and raised nine Great Depression/ World War II era children, I can also empathize with those today wanting to build a better life for their children. I can almost hear my grandmother muttering in her thick German accent that it was anything but “just and fair.”
Clearly, these are difficult challenges for President Joe Biden, who Kevin declared, “could secure the border in a week if he had the will to do it.” Trump, with all of his bluster and xenophobic rhetoric, couldn’t hurdle all of these immigration obstacles in four years, let alone one week.
Nonetheless, I hope we can all agree, that in a representative democracy, there needs to be a collective effort from all sides — left, right and in the center — to get things accomplished. To me, it’s not really so much about the will, but rather the want to pursue common ground regardless of party affiliation.
To close my imaginary lesson, I would ask Kevin: In your campaign public appearances and website postings and if elected — are you willing to take that not-so-popular political stance and express your willingness to collaborate and work together with your colleagues from across the aisle?
If so, that would certainly bring a smile to the Founding Fathers’ faces and restore their original faith in a vision of democracy that they perceived as the splendid art of compromise. Class dismissed.