New York Times Editorial - Immigration's moment
Immigration's moment
Copyright by The New York Times
THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2006
The Senate Judiciary Committee resumed debate on Wednesday over a bill whose design and fate could determine whether the U.S. Congress finally achieves comprehensive, workable immigration reform or adds to decades of failure.
The Senate's role is crucial because the House has already passed its bill, a punitive measure that seeks to stem the immigrant tide without offering the other half of a true solution: a constructive approach to the estimated 12 million people who are already in the United States illegally.
Since the House bill would make being in the U.S. without papers an aggravated felony, would turn people who extend charity to illegal immigrants into "alien smugglers" and would grant state and local police officers the "inherent authority" to enforce immigration laws, the authors presumably want to rouse the country to seek out and deport every last unauthorized person.
Nothing in past experience suggests that such an effort is possible, or that it would accomplish anything beyond making millions of people shrink further from the sunlight of lawfulness and order.
The Judiciary Committee is under pressure from the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, to complete a bill by the end of the month. Its chairman, Arlen Specter, is trying to walk a tightrope between the hard-core restrictionists and those who favor real reform. Specter has shaped an unsatisfactory compromise: a program that would not build in a path to citizenship. It would create a hired army of permanently temporary workers, who would be free to take our most strenuous and unwanted jobs but not to integrate into society.
One sign of this country's self-confidence and strength has been its ability to welcome and absorb the people who want to make new lives here. Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy, recognizing this, have offered a bill that would provide a path to earned legalization for those who put down roots, learn English, keep their records clean and pay back taxes and steep fines.
Specter and his committee colleagues should follow the McCain- Kennedy example in creating a comprehensive immigration bill. President George W. Bush, meanwhile, should show leadership in pushing for sensible and humane program for temporary workers. He should rediscover his election-season enthusiasm for his vision of America as a land of opportunity "para todos," for all.
And the rest of us need to decide where we want to live: in a shining city on a hill, or a gated community in a cul-de-sac.
Copyright by The New York Times
THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2006
The Senate Judiciary Committee resumed debate on Wednesday over a bill whose design and fate could determine whether the U.S. Congress finally achieves comprehensive, workable immigration reform or adds to decades of failure.
The Senate's role is crucial because the House has already passed its bill, a punitive measure that seeks to stem the immigrant tide without offering the other half of a true solution: a constructive approach to the estimated 12 million people who are already in the United States illegally.
Since the House bill would make being in the U.S. without papers an aggravated felony, would turn people who extend charity to illegal immigrants into "alien smugglers" and would grant state and local police officers the "inherent authority" to enforce immigration laws, the authors presumably want to rouse the country to seek out and deport every last unauthorized person.
Nothing in past experience suggests that such an effort is possible, or that it would accomplish anything beyond making millions of people shrink further from the sunlight of lawfulness and order.
The Judiciary Committee is under pressure from the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, to complete a bill by the end of the month. Its chairman, Arlen Specter, is trying to walk a tightrope between the hard-core restrictionists and those who favor real reform. Specter has shaped an unsatisfactory compromise: a program that would not build in a path to citizenship. It would create a hired army of permanently temporary workers, who would be free to take our most strenuous and unwanted jobs but not to integrate into society.
One sign of this country's self-confidence and strength has been its ability to welcome and absorb the people who want to make new lives here. Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy, recognizing this, have offered a bill that would provide a path to earned legalization for those who put down roots, learn English, keep their records clean and pay back taxes and steep fines.
Specter and his committee colleagues should follow the McCain- Kennedy example in creating a comprehensive immigration bill. President George W. Bush, meanwhile, should show leadership in pushing for sensible and humane program for temporary workers. He should rediscover his election-season enthusiasm for his vision of America as a land of opportunity "para todos," for all.
And the rest of us need to decide where we want to live: in a shining city on a hill, or a gated community in a cul-de-sac.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 8:50 AM
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