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Sunday, November 10, 2024
HomeNewsAn Immigration Plan vs “Concepts Of A Plan” And Lies

An Immigration Plan vs “Concepts Of A Plan” And Lies

Immigration is a highly charged issue in American politics and re­cently has been used as a means to stir up fear and anger in the hope of garnering votes. “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats”, “They have an open border policy because they’re trying to destroy this nation”, “Our country is being invaded by murderers and rapists”, “Our cities are being overrun by violent gangs”, “They’re bringing disease”, “They are poisoning our blood”. Need it be said that these statements are outright lies?

It is telling that when asked in multiple interviews about such claims, Vice Presidential candi­date JD Vance acknowledged that even though the claim that Haitian immigrants are eating the pets of their white neighbors in Ohio was a lie, it was a “useful lie” because it focused the media on the issue of immigration.

If candidates for President and Vice President are not competent, articulate or honest enough to ad­dress our country’s immigration problems by speaking truthfully about those issues, then it is fair to say that they are not competent enough to enact policies that will adequately address the problem, or for that matter, any problem. It is also fair to point out that their false claims about immigrants stem from the same racist talking points as “The Great Replacement Theo­ry” and other Neo Nazi foolishness. Such assertions are beneath the dig­nity and intelligence of the Ameri­can electorate.

In my almost 40 year career as a teacher, I found that most of my students of color knew something about their family’s immigration story. Black students often knew where in Africa their descendants came from. Some knew that they were the descendants of slaves. Latino / Latina students knew that their parents or grandparents had left their Latin American homeland because of war, violence, govern­mental corruption and crushing poverty. There was a Syrian broth­er and sister who could recount the story of their family’s escape from the tyranny of dictator Bashar, el-Assad. Conversely, my white students knew little or nothing about their family’s immigration stories. “I guess we’re from Ire­land” was usually about the extent of their knowledge.

I happen to know my family’s immigration story. I am of Scottish / Welsh descent. My Scottish clan is Keith and my ancestors fought against English oppression from the time of William Wallace. The Keiths began immigrating to the Americas around 1683 due to reli­gious persecution and the fact that they were being hunted by the En­glish because they were Jacobites. They were, by any modern defini­tion, refugees. Visiting my home­land and researching my family’s story has made me sympathetic toward folks who are trying to es­cape similar situations, regardless of where they come from.

Let us be truthful about immi­gration and who is responsible for immigration policy. The Constitu­tion places that responsibility on the Congress of the United States. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution grants Congress “the power to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the fore­going Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof”. Long-standing Supreme Court precedent recognizes Con­gress as having plenary power over immigration, giving it almost com­plete authority to decide whether foreign nationals may enter or re­main in the United States.

In an effort to fulfill its respon­sibility, a bipartisan congressional commission wrote what became known as, S.4361 – Border Act of 2024. Among other provisions, S.4361 would have provided over $20 billion for border security. Had the Act been passed into law it would have required the Depart­ment of State to establish refugee processing centers in Central Amer­ica so that people could be screened and their refugee status accurately determined before they arrive at the border. This would have eliminated most of the practice known as “catch and release”, where undocumented immigrants are released from cus­tody into the U.S. until court dates to determine refugee status can be convened. Under S.4361, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection sectors would have been required to increase the number of border protection agents and personnel to process immigrants who have already arrived at our border. The Department of State would have been required to implement a strat­egy to advance reforms in Central America and address key factors contributing to migration from that region to the United States. The bill would have established a process for noncitizens who could pass cer­tain background checks and meet certain requirements, including be­ing continually present in the Unit­ed States from January of 2023, to be able to receive lawful permanent resident status after at least five years.

S.4361 had the support of the Border Patrol, the Chamber of Commerce, the South Texas Alli­ance of Cities and others, but was tanked because (allegedly) Donald Trump wanted to use immigration and border security issues to help his campaign for President. He chose to play political football with a national security issue because he believed it would benefit him.

Trump and Vance continue to repeat the claim that Vice Presi­dent Harris was appointed “Bor­der Czar”. This is another lie. The Department of Homeland Securi­ty manages migration and Harris has never been in charge of the border. Her immigration role for the Biden administration included boosting U.S. aid to Central Amer­ica and working with both public and private sector entities, plus the governments of El Salvador, Gua­temala and Honduras, to improve living conditions in those nations in the hope of lowering the odds that migrants would leave those countries because of poverty, gang violence and corruption. Migration from these three Central American countries during the Biden admin­istration has fallen 35 percent, from about 683,890 to 447,270 in 2023. These numbers are lower than they were in 2019 under Trump. There are “push and pull” factors that ex­plain why people leave their home countries to come to the United States. Some of the push factors in­clude cartel violence, government corruption and poverty. Some of the pull factors are economic op­portunity, safety and freedom. The Biden – Harris approach to immi­gration and border security shows a comprehensive approach at try­ing to deal with the multiplicity of issues that lead people to come to our border. While not perfect, their policies are stronger than what we have had in the past from multiple previous administrations.

The New York Times likened Trump’s immigration policy to be­ing “Light on Details But Strong On Fury”. The central theme of Trump’s immigration policy is to “Build the Wall”. Regarding wall building, Trump’s claims about his accomplishments during his first term in reality equate to what George W. Bush called “fuzzy math”. A Customs and Border Pro­tection report issued toward the end of the Trump administration indi­cates that 52 miles of new wall sys­tems and 33 miles of new secondary wall systems were built where there were none before. Besides the new miles of border barriers, the Trump administration replaced 351 miles of primary barriers and 22 miles of secondary barriers that were small­er and were dilapidated. Maybe I’m missing something, but it looks like that adds up to 458 miles of border wall along a 2000 mile border. A significant amount of that construc­tion was replacement for segments of wall that were no longer service­able and Mexico didn’t pay for any of it. The need for a border wall is one thing, but walls by themselves will not make our borders secure. A more intelligent approach is need­ed. One that involves collaboration with transnational partners from across the region.

Trump states that if elected, he plans to round up undocumented immigrants, put them in detention centers and deport them. Like his “concept of a plan” for healthcare, his plan for immigration and border security shows lack of thought, nu­ance and the understanding needed to address what is clearly a com­plex geopolitical issue. We should be honest enough to call his plan what it is. Trump’s plan involves concentration camps and likely, ethnic cleansing. And let’s not for­get the chaos at the border during his first term. Under Trump, the US government had a “zero-tolerance” policy that allowed authorities to deport adults who crossed the bor­der without consideration for their refugee status. In some cases, par­ents were deported back to their home countries without their chil­dren. Children were placed in gov­ernment custody and held in cages for weeks. At least 5 children died while in detention. Trump repeat­edly defended – and continues to defend – the policy as a way to deter would-be migrants. At least 3,900 children were separated from their parents between 2017 and 2021. As of May of 2024, over 1000 migrant children had yet to be reunited with their families.

Border security is an import­ant issue, as are effective policies around how refugees and migrants are treated. For decades, Congress has abdicated its responsibility to enact the needed reforms that will adequately address the current real­ities we face on our Southern bor­der. This is a complex problem that demands an intelligent, thoughtful approach. We would do well to carefully consider whose policies best reflect our need for national security and what kinds of policies will effectively and justly govern a humane approach for processing refugees and immigrants. The face that America shows to the world is that we are a nation of immigrants who value the God given inalien­able rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Is this still true or are these ideals in short supply? I believe we are smart enough to find solutions to the issues on our South­ern border without resorting to con­centration camps, mass arrests and ethnic cleansing. One candidate has endorsed border policies that look to bring a comprehensive approach to the issue. The other candidate’s approach is predicated on lies and seems about as insightful as, “I guess we’re from Ireland”.

Sources for this article include:

NPR.org: JD Vance spreads debunked claims about Haitian

Congress.gov: S.4361 – Border Act of 2024 118th Congress (2023-2024)

Sinema.Senate.gov: Bipartisan Border Security Package: Myth vs. Fact

Washington Post: What Kamala Harris did – and didn’t do – on immigration

New York Times: Trump’s Border Plans Are Light on Details but Strong on Fury

Washington Post: Years after immigration policy separated families, 1400

Reuters.com: Close to 1000 migrant children separated by Trump

Politifact.com: How many miles of border wall did Donald Trump build?

NPR.org: Deaths Of Migrant Children Haunt Former Official

Rick Evans
Rick Evans
My wife, Marsha Kinzer (a proud DEHS Greyhound, class of ‘77) introduced me to the North Shore on vacation in 2012. It became our regular escape when the stress of our careers in education became overwhelming, and it didn’t take me long to fall in love with the breathtaking scenery, the nice people, and “salad” containing Jell-o and marshmallows. So you can either blame or thank my loving wife for my being here, because when we needed to choose a retirement hometown, Marsha advocated hard for her beloved Duluth, and here we are, six months later. Yes, this will be my first northern Minnesota winter. Yes, I welcome thoughts and prayers. Government, public policy, and social justice weighed heavily in the curriculums I taught at the high school level over a thirty-eight year career. In addition, we were a laboratory school focused on critical thinking in conjunction with technical and scientific writing. So when I found myself adrift on the great ocean of retirement and spied a raft, I jumped at the chance to take up what I’d left behind…minus the bad teachers’ lounge coffee. My position at the NSJ allows me to combine my passions for government and writing, and it’s helping me to feel less out of touch in new surroundings. When I’m not being “Cubby” (Marsha’s favorite new nickname for this green reporter) I enjoy pointing at eagles and saying, “Look, honey. There’s an eagle.” I’ve had an active side hustle as a professional musician for almost as many years as Charlie Parr. As a guitarist/singer/songwriter, I graced the stages of clubs and festivals around southern Wisconsin, including an appearance on A Prairie Home Companion. Should I even mention A Prairie Home Companion, or am I the only one here old enough to remember what that is? Look! An eagle!
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