Trump’s non-Reagan, Anti-immigration Agenda

Unlike Trump, Ronald Reagan recognzied the complexity of the immigration issue in passing the Immigration Reform and Control Act.  of 1986. The act increased enforcement of the immigration laws while at the same time allowing amnesty for several million unauthorized immigrants living in the US. Specifically, the law increased sanctions on employers who hired individuals without documentation, and substantially increased the level of border security. As part of the effort to recognize the status of those living in the US illegally, the law provided a process for applying for permanent residence. Three million people applied and nearly 2.7 million were granted residency.It is not limited to the recent spike of immigrants seeking asylum at the southern border -  but includes all people of different faiths and colors.

In so doing, Reagan recognized the important of immigration to our society then, as it is now:

Currently, 13.8% or 46 million Americans are either foreign-born immigrants or the children of foreign-born parents. We are still a nation of immigrants.

In the healthcare field, 26% of all U.S. doctors earned their degrees abroad, while 30% of healthcare support professionals were born outside the United States.

Among immigrants over the age of 25, 35% hold bachelor’s degrees, nearly matching the 36% of U.S.-born Americans with similar educational backgrounds.

Moreover, immigrants are statistically less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than native-born Americans.

If you want to stand self-righteously on the issue of legal versus illegal, be aware that his rhetoric is not just aimed at the recent increase in those seeking asylum at the southern border, but at all people of differnent faiths, beliefs, and color. Chapter 2, Section 4 of the Republican Party Platform says clearly that “Republicans will use existing Federal Law to keep foreign Christian-hating Communists, Marxists, and Socialists out of America.” Given that Trump has used those terms to characterize all leaders of the democratic party, why should anyone feel safe in exercising their First Amendment Rights?

And finally, if by the grace of God, you were born in America, can you not find room for a measure of compassion for those who were not? These are people willing to walk thousands of miles, often with little more than a phone number of a friend or relative in the US, all in search of a better life. Has your sense of entitlement overwhelmed your capacity for emphathy?