Last week’s last minute funding for the Department of Homeland Security has reminded us of how desperately America needs a long-term solution in the area of immigration. The current approach has failed to control the border, has resulted in de facto amnesty for 11-12 million people (the rough equivalent to the population of Ohio), and isn’t meeting our needs in the area of economic development and national security.
A necessary first step is acknowledging that the deportation of 12 million residents would be logistically impossible, as well as morally reprehensible and economically disastrous. The vast majority of these residents have proven themselves to be valuable members of our communities. We can debate the morality of mass deportation, but its logistical impossibility is grounds for moving on to a serious discussion about how to fix the system we have inherited
A little known fact of Lincoln’s legacy is that he explored the option of deporting slaves until he concluded that mass deportation could not solve the problem of slavery. In the weeks preceding the emancipation proclamation, Lincoln was actively pursuing an effort to deport the African-American slaves to Haiti, Honduras, and other counties in Central and South America. Congress actually appropriated $600,000 to assist Lincoln in deporting slaves to these destinations. Lincoln abandoned these plans only when other countries refused to cooperate. He abandoned them out of logistical, not moral necessity. He concluded that it simply could not be done. Then he moved on to legislation that earned him his reputation as the “great emancipator.”
We need Speaker Boehner and his colleagues to put American interests before political posturing and to enact immigration policy that matches the economic and national security realities of the 21st century. Economists widely agree that immigration reform will increase tax revenues, lower the deficit, and fuel job growth. Speaker Boehner has publically acknowledged that immigration policy is badly broken and that fixing it is one of his highest priorities. Now is the time for him to act. Using the coalition that passed funding for Homeland Security, he should finish the task at hand.
Inciting fear, misrepresenting opponents, and demonizing victims in order to raise funds and distract voters has become the political norm. That must change. We support leaders, including our own Speaker Boehner, as they work to create consensus-based solutions in the area of immigration. We must also hold them accountable if they don’t.
The only way to avoid an endless series of last-minute crises, like the one that unfolded last week, is to enact legislation that secures the border, modernizes immigration law, attracts global talent, and allows many undocumented people to begin earning their way toward legal status, or in some cases, citizenship. We should deport those who continue to commit serious crimes, not those who dream of becoming Americans.
Voters are ready for immigration reform. The recently published American Values Atlas reports that here in Ohio, 72 percent of respondents favor citizenship (57 percent) or permanent legal status (15 percent) while only 25 percent favor identification and deportation. Republicans (the party to which I belong) seem dangerously out of touch with this sentiment. They are at risk of becoming a modern-day version of the doomed anti-immigrant Know-Nothing Party of the 1850s.
I long to see America live up to the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, welcoming those yearning to breathe free, and empowering them to strive for their version of the American dream. I’m also desperately hoping that Speaker Boehner, will follow Lincoln’s imperfect example of allowing a political reality to inspire a noble legislative solution. He took an important step in this direction last week. Now he should move forward with the same bipartisan coalition and finish the task of immigration reform.
Dr. Carl Ruby, the Senior Pastor at Central Christian Church and Executive Director of Welcome Springfield, a non-profit organization devoted immigrant integration and economic development in Clark County, Ohio.
Image: Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., holbox / Shutterstock.com
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