Quote Originally Posted by Saab2000 View Post
I remember when Pres. George W. Bush attempted a comprehensive immigration reform and was shot down from his own party. I think Pres. Obama did the same but wasn't thwarted from his own party. In the matter of immigration policy I'd probably lay more blame on the GOP but I'm totally willing to listen to evidence to the contrary.

It is 100% correct that this isn't dealt with by the adults in the room but it seems as though neither the halls of congress (both chambers) nor 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. are occupied with adults. They're occupied by whiny fear mongers.

We need a policy that promotes guest workers and paths to citizenship. The US birthrate is falling and US industry needs workers. Workers shouldn't cower in fear in kitchens and work crews. They end up exploited as near slave labor because they're undocumented. The economy needs labor and it needs to be done in an appropriate manner. Yes, we need border security and we need an orderly and legal process.

People paying traffickers illegally to get them into the country is terrible and leads to all kinds of abuses and criminal issues. But we also need workers.

So I guess yeah, I'd blame both parties (there's that thing again - political parties who would rather see themselves in power than actually do anything) because this needs to be done for the sake of the nation and the economy and the people who just want a better life. It seems as though this shouldn't actually be that difficult to figure out.

It seems to me a guest worker program would be a start.
I was going to point out the failure of immigration reform under W. That was a crushing disappointment for me, both because a real agreement seemed to be within our congress' grasp, and because its failure revealed how craven congressional leadership was.

What I don't agree with is your argument that this issue has to do with our falling birthrates and need for cheap labor. This is an issue of justice and morality for me.

Nearly every last one of us is here because our ancestors did the same thing the folk in that caravan are doing: They left behind their dangerous, wretched, penurious lives and made a desperate lunge towards bettering their lives and those of their children. How can we now deny others the opportunities that our ancestors received?

And not only that. There's a core moral lesson my religious tradition teaches me (and these were just the verses I dredged up with a quick Google search):

  • “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”(Ex.22:20).
  • “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul of the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex.23:9).
  • “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Lev.19:34).
  • “You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deut.10:19)
  • “You shall not hate an Egyptian, for you were stranger in his land” (Deut.23:8).
  • “Always remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment” (Deut. 24:22)

They are us. Full fucking stop.