Tag Archives: borders

Solving The Immigration Crisis: A Call for Compassion and Courage

Hypocrisy is an ugly trait. It is one thing to fall short of one’s ideals and humbly aim to do better; it is quite another to profess virtue while willfully doing the opposite. It is not hypocritical to fail at times, if there is repentance and resolve to improve. It is hypocritical to present oneself as a paragon of compassion and then recoil when called upon to act in accordance with one’s ideals.

Political hypocrisy is on full display as hundreds of migrants are bussed or flown to sanctuary locations. None of the leaders of sanctuary cities complained when these folks were transported under cover of night to conservative suburbs or rural locales. But the moment a few dozen folks arrive in Martha’s Vineyard, suddenly such actions are now “inhuman” “Illegal” and even “akin to the Holocaust.”

Open borders serve no nation well. Neither does xenophobia. America has a wildly contradictory history of immigration law and practice and current systems are in need of reform. Before offering a way forward, balance is needed as we critique the current crises. Some Democratic leaders want a flood of people dependent on state help and they offer rapid citizenship so migrants will vote for their benefactors. Republicans have been unfairly portrayed as White Nationalists for simply wanting order and security at the border. But many Republicans are secretly happy with an endless supply of cheap labor.

How do we make progress? We must start with ending the “either/or” thinking that poisons reasonable policymaking. We can be hospitable and secure, creating pathways for citizenship and residency that welcome hard-working people from all nations. A secure border matters. The wall must be finished and many hospitality centers constructed on both sides of the border with Mexico. Criminals must be screened out and current undocumented felons must be deported. DREAMers deserve a pathway to citizenship while we eliminate incentives for anchor babies and the tragic separation of families.

Legal immigration is a mess. It is cumbersome and expensive and we can do better. Instead of reactive, symbolic actions (open borders, shipping migrants, etc.), Let’s gather people from all sides of the issue, keep the cameras outside (I know, that is impossible!), and forge real policy. For those in the USA illegally, offer a streamlined pathway to normalization with real accountability. ONLY citizens can vote. Apart from basic food, clothing, and temporary shelter, government benefits require registration and screening. Reform the whole system and while this is taking place, take the monies designated to the IRS increases and apply them to border security and compassionate care.

There is no place for racism and xenophobia in our policies. And there is a need for secure borders and screening for criminality and diseases (which can then be treated). Once our agitation propaganda is replaced by compassion and courage, there is hope for our nation and for millions we should welcome to our land.

Two Questions

As we consider the turmoil in our streets and online, there are two guiding questions that may help us with a civil and insightful conversation. First, what does “there” look like as we aspire for a more humane, just, and loving world? Second, what are some practical steps toward this vision?

It is much easier to agitate and destroy than it is to build just and sustainable structures that help offer a flourishing future for all. Tearing down monuments to an unjust past is emotionally understandable. Yet, thinking deeply how to teach and understand the many narrative of American history will require more thoughtfulness that current reactions.

Conservatives tend to ignore the historical and systemic shortcomings and focus on personal opportunity and responsibility in achieving the ideals of the Founders and Framers. Some (not all) progressives find it hard to affirm anything positive about the past but offer few practical and economically feasible solutions for all the crises we face.

What does “there” look like? I long for a day when every (of every color or culture, class and gender) person – from conception to coronation – lives in a world with access, equity, and opportunity and can, with the help of others, flourish personally and add to the goodness of our world. “There” includes immigration reform, so America is hospitable and welcoming immigrants ready to contribute. Neither open borders nor separating families are good solutions.

Practically, serious reforms are needed in all sectors (business, criminal justice, education, political accountability, mental health, strengthening families, and more) so that these pathways are created and sustained. We can forge and better future without extreme deficit spending and defunding law enforcement.

Will we find the courage and wisdom to get past anarchy and ignorance, nostalgic and utopian dispositions and work toward justice? The road ahead is perilous but full of promise.

For our Political Leaders

Our political impasses are solvable…except the lust for power blurs vision for the common good. We can balance a budget, secure our borders, offer equity and opportunity, provide for our defense and rebuild infrastructure with skilled people ready to help. But too many leaders would rather agitate than build. It is easier to promise the unachievable than call for integrity.

I have three questions as you propose legislation:
First, who benefits? Are we aiming for the common good or lining the pockets of a few?

Second, what are the principles behind the laws? The ideas and virtues underneath do matter.

Third, how will we pay for this? Are we moving toward fiscal stability or deficit-spending our way to power?
Stewarding the public trust requires courage, moral clarity and wisdom.

Positive Politics, Part 2

Dear Republicans:
Will you make history or miss another moment and pass the problems forward?
Courage, humility and unselfish love compels action. Please begin negotiating and passing bipartisan legislation that benefits the most people possible.

You may never get the extreme Left to join you, but there are persons of conscience and common good that want to refine healthcare, improve infrastructure, secure our borders and transform immigration.

Please create budgets that move us toward debt reduction. If you care about efficiency and ethics, please transform systems so resources get to the people that need them. You were elected to create a new environment in Washington, D.C. Simplify tax laws, stop currying favor with lobbyists and making side deals.

We just endured 8 years of opaque contempt for dialogue. Please do not make the same mistakes. Forge friendships across every aisle.

Regardless of your distaste or support for the President, you have a moral obligation to bring legislation for signature. “Open covenants openly arrive at…” should be the norm, including laws the average person can read and understand. President Reagan and Speaker O/Neill negotiated. President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich were not friends, but came the closest to a balanced budget since 1967.

It just takes courage, humility and love for the American people.

Hour of Decision for the USA: Will the Experiment Continue? Part Two: The Dignity of Every Person

Pro-Choice. Pro-Life. “A woman’s right to choose.” “Protecting unborn human beings.”

The debate over abortion speaks of a foundational issue concerning the future of the USA: the dignity of each human life. Underneath this issue is another one: is human life a gift from God or Nature or simply a given that the stronger can dispose of at will?

For over four decades, the debates about abortion have raged, with pro-choice advocates defending the woman’s right to choose and their pro-life adversaries advocating the protection of innocent unborn children. Pro-choice adherents focus on the economic, psychological and social harm to the mother. Pro-life camps argue for the protection of unborn children as fully human from conception.

I am pro-life, with some (still tragic) allowances for victims of rape and incest (though with support these survivors may choose adoption or rearing). There is not any way to define the unborn as anything but a human being in formation. And when sexual intimacy in voluntary, the “choice” has already been made.

Throughout history, the Judeo-Christian ethos has protected the broken and vulnerable, in the midst of societies indifferent to suffering. From the Greco-Roman practice of exposing (disposing) of unwanted infants to ending widow burning in India, courageous women and men have defended human dignity. Care for the physically and mentally challenged is another sign of civilized society. Every person matters, whether they are “normal” or not.

For the USA, the hour of decision is here: will we welcome every human being as a gift from conception to coronation? Will we place ethical limits on genetic research and champion two-parent, monogamous households nurturing the next generation as the ideal? In a nation with 10 major family systems and numerous others vying for acceptance, the answer to this question will determine our future.

If we welcome the unborn, protect the vulnerable, respect the aged and revere the mystery of life’s beginning and end, we establish the foundation for all social norms and thoughtful legislation. If we redefine the unborn as disposable and the terminally ill as burdensome, human dignity is displaced by scientism and autocratic notions of productivity overtake compassion – and we are the poorer for this.

Let’s welcome every life as a gift and recapture our God-given rights.