Enough Fence Already: Tough Questions on Immigration Reform

Esquire
Enough Fence Already: Tough Questions on Immigration Reform
Yes, Obama made a commitment on Thursday to push border legislation — albeit not 'til next year. But, yes, there are 11 million illegal immigrants in our country. What happens between now and then appears complex, until you talk to this one God-fearing guy.

By: John H. Richardson

The evil overlords that rule my destiny here at Esquire — having decided that "the stories of our time" (boring old health care, unemployment, and workers' rights) were more important this month than, say, Mark Sanford — wanted me to write about immigration this week. So I turned to Dr. Donald M. Kerwin.

Let me just say right out front that Kerwin is one of those nut jobs who believe in a wacko revolutionary named Jesus Christ. For fifteen years, he was the director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. Now he's a big shot at the Migration Policy Institute. But his gateway drug was a stint working in Peru for — you guessed it — a children's soup kitchen.

"I was trying to live my faith," he says. "It was all kind of from a faith commitment. I was focused on doing work consistent with my faith."

Note the obsessive repetition of doctrine. To program a person that well, it takes years in re-education camps.

"In Peru," he continues, "I saw people who were extraordinarily generous and, a number of them, extraordinarily needy as well. Since then, I realize what it takes for people to try to support themselves who come from circumstances like that, and how committed people like that are to their families, and how, if a person like that is forced to go to another country, he isn't doing it willingly. He's doing it with a lot of self-sacrifice, for his family."

After that radicalizing experience, Kerwin helped 5,600 Haitians immigrate to the United States. I asked the obvious question: Why don't those Haitians stay home and fix their own country?

"These people were fleeing for their lives. They couldn't improve their country if they got killed."

Okay, whatever. But why make it any easier? Aren't there lots of miserable Haitians fleeing for their lives? Kerwin's answer was that those particular Haitians had already been winnowed, during a stay at lovely Guantánamo Bay, from 40,000 applicants/long-distance swimmers. "They were already deemed to have a credible fear of persecution, yet they had to go through a very time consuming and expensive asylum process, and it took immense resources on the part of charitable agencies to help them — millions of dollars that could have been spent on other needs."

Another big whatever. It's still a big world and there are still lots of desperate people who want to do my job for pennies on the dollar. That's what I hear on Fox News, anyway.

"That's another thing Peru gave me: People don't really want to come. They'd really prefer to stay in the country and community where they've grown up, surrounded by family and friends."

Okay, smarty-pants. How do you explain the 11 million illegal aliens? (Or "undocumented immigrants" as politically correct liberals such as yourself like to put it.)

"Nobody likes illegal immigration," Kerwin admits. "Everybody recognizes the system is broken. The question really is how to look at people who have come in illegally. Until the recession, our economy badly needed these people. We had record low unemployment — 4 percent — until 2007."

But that was then. Why can't we throw them out now?

"They're all in families, large numbers of them, enormous numbers in mixed-status families. Their kids are U.S. citizens, or their spouse is a lawful resident."

So maybe it's not gonna slide down as smooth as a burger in the gullet of Lou Dobbs. But what else can we do?

"There needs to be strong border enforcement. There needs to be strong interior enforcement, particularly at the workplace. There need to be ways to check whether people are authorized to work in a way that's highly accurate and respects people's rights, and we need to also be screening people who are serving prison time — to remove people who ought to be removed. And we also need to re-think our legal immigration system so it reflects the economic needs of the nation, so you admit more workers when you need more workers."

And then we get them to leave!

"You don't. But that's the interesting thing: If you bring in temporary workers in a way that allows them to move from job to job and become permanent residents, many of those want to go home. What you have now is people who stay because they might never be able to come back."

I dunno about all this. No matter how a person complicates things with, like, logic and morality and social justice and other suspiciously liberal notions, we still have those 11 million illegals getting sub-prime loans and using our emergency rooms when they faint from heat exhaustion in the sugar-cane fields.

"Obviously, you need to give the people that are here a chance to earn the right to remain," Kerwin says. "There's no deportation or enforcement policy that's going to result in 11 million people either being forced to leave or being physically arrested or removed. I don't think anybody who's serious at this point even thinks that's possible or even desirable."

But isn't that one of the reasons John McCain lost the election, because he wanted some kind of amnesty program?

For once, Dr. Kerwin had no snappy answer.

So I put it another way: Isn't that rewarding illegal behavior?

"I don't know what kind of a reward it is to say to someone who has been here working at low wages, most of them in jobs that are thankless, 'You can now go to the very back of the visa line and over the course of a period of time — through work, through learning English, through paying a significant fine — can earn the right to remain.' In a way, yes, it's a program that forgives a transgression. But lawlessness is a little harsh."

Aha! Forgiving transgressions! Typical bleeding-heart. What about the awesome wrath of an angry God?

"You want to uphold the rule of law. You're not happy they entered the country illegally. You want to ask why they did it and what they've done here. But you also have to recognize the reality that they're hard-working people who are embedded in communities and families."

I have to admit, some of them are hardworking — like the guys I use to rake up my leaves every fall. And they're just standing there on the sideway across from the train station, politely waiting hour after hour. Convenient and cheap, too!

"You're the problem," Kerwin tells me. "We need amnesty for you guys. Why is amnesty for undocumented immigrants a stigma, but there's no stigma for people who have hired and benefited from their work? If we're really going to come together as a country, it seems to me the restoration of the rule of law should go in both directions."

That ain't gonna happen, bro.

"No, it won't."

As long as we're cool on that, what needs to be done, politically speaking?

"President Obama met with members of Congress last week to kick off immigration reform; his consistent position is this kind of legislation needs to pass. Senator Schumer is crafting a bill. There seems to be a strong commitment."

And who is fighting it?

"The House Immigration Reform Caucus."

Hmmm, let's take a look. That would be Eric Cantor, Republican from Virginia; Dan Burton, Republican from Indiana; Brian Bilbray, Republican from California; Zach Wamp, Republican from Tennessee; Vern Buchanan, Republican from Florida; Michael Burgess, Republican from Texas; John Shadegg, Republican from Arizona; Pete Sessions, Republican from Texas... and so on for about another fifty names, all with Rs after them.

What's their basic argument?

"That if only the law was enforced more stringently, with even more Draconian measures, you would make life so difficult they would decide to leave."

And the problem with that is?

"There's no way you can break up all these families and do roundups of millions of people and pull 5 percent of the work force out and end up with a country that any of us would be proud of."

Clearly, Dr. Kerwin has never been to a gun show. And he probably hates the border fence, too.

"The fence works in certain places, in highly urban crossing areas. But I think there's enough fence at this point. What we really need is a huge focus on the successful integration of newcomers. Altogether, legal and illegal combined, we're talking about 38 million people. The success of these people is essential to the future of the country. It's a remarkable number. It's a large experiment. If they're successful, the country will be much stronger."

There you have it: the commie — I mean, the Christian point of view

President Obama’s Comments on Immigration After Today’s White House Meeting

Posted 06/25/09 at 04:36pm
President Obama’s Comments on Immigration After Today’s White House Meeting
Here are the President's unedited comments, from a White House release:

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

AFTER MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

TO DISCUSS IMMIGRATION

State Dining Room 3:17 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. We have just finished what I consider to be a very productive meeting on one of the most critical issues that I think this nation faces, and that is an immigration system that is broken and needs fixing.

We have members of Congress from both chambers, from parties, who have participated in the meeting and shared a range of ideas. I think the consensus is that despite our inability to get this passed over the last several years, the American people still want to see a solution in which we are tightening up our borders, or cracking down on employers who are using illegal workers in order to drive down wages -- and oftentimes mistreat those workers. And we need a effective way to recognize and legalize the status of undocumented workers who are here.

Now, this is -- there is not by any means consensus across the table. As you can see, we've got a pretty diverse spectrum of folks here. But what I'm encouraged by is that after all the overheated rhetoric and the occasional demagoguery on all sides around this issue, we've got a responsible set of leaders sitting around the table who want to actively get something done and not put it off until a year, two years, three years, five years from now, but to start working on this thing right now.


My administration is fully behind an effort to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. I have asked my Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Janet Napolitano, to lead up a group that is going to be working with a leadership group from both the House and the Senate to start systematically working through these issues from the congressional leaders and those with the relevant jurisdiction. What we've heard is through a process of regular order, they would like to work through these issues both in the House and in the Senate.

In the meantime, administratively there are a couple of things that our administration has already begun to do. The FBI has cleared much of the backlog of immigration background checks that was really holding up the legal immigration process. DHS is already in the process of cracking down on unscrupulous employers, and, in collaboration with the Department of Labor, working to protect those workers from exploitation.


The Department of Homeland Security has also been making good progress in speeding up the processing of citizenship petitions, which has been far too slow for far too long -- and that, by the way, is an area of great consensus, cuts across Democratic and Republican parties, the notion that we've got to make our legal system of immigration much more efficient and effective and customer-friendly than it currently is.

Today I'm pleased to announce a new collaboration between my Chief Information Officer, my Chief Performance Officer, my Chief Technologies Officer and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Office to make the agency much more efficient, much more transparent, much more user-friendly than it has been in the past.


In the next 90 days, USCIS will launch a vastly improved Web site that will, for the first time ever, allow applicants to get updates on their status of their applications via e-mail and text message and online. And anybody who's dealt with families who are trying to deal with -- navigate the immigration system, this is going to save them huge amounts of time standing in line, waiting around, making phone calls, being put on hold. It's an example of some things that we can do administratively even as we're working through difficult issues surrounding comprehensive immigration.

And the idea is very simple here: We're going to leverage cutting-edge technology to reduce the unnecessary paperwork, backlogs, and the lack of transparency that's caused so many people so much heartache.


Now, we all know that comprehensive immigration reform is difficult. We know it's a sensitive and politically volatile issue. One of the things that was said around the table is the American people still don't have enough confidence that Congress and any administration is going to get serious about border security, and so they're concerned that any immigration reform simply will be a short-term legalization of undocumented workers with no long-term solution with respect to future flows of illegal immigration.

What's also been acknowledged is that the 12 million or so undocumented workers are here -- who are not paying taxes in the ways that we'd like them to be paying taxes, who are living in the shadows, that that is a group that we have to deal with in a practical, common-sense way. And I think the American people are ready for us to do so. But it's going to require some heavy lifting, it's going to require a victory of practicality and common sense and good policymaking over short-term politics. That's what I'm committed to doing as President.


I want to especially commend John McCain, who's with me today, because along with folks like Lindsey Graham, he has already paid a significant political cost for doing the right thing. I stand with him, I stand with Nydia Velázquez and others who have taken leadership on this issue. I am confident that if we enter into this with the notion that this is a nation of laws that have to be observed and this is a nation of immigrants, then we're going to create a stronger nation for our children and our grandchildren.

So thank you all for participating. I'm looking forward to us getting busy and getting to work. All right? Thank you.

Oh, and by the way, I hope everybody has got their Hawaiian shirts -- (laughter) -- and their mumus for our luau tonight.

Dear Mr. President

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
Washington DC

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing in support of passing immigration reform that includes a path to legalization, be it legal residency or citizenship for the millions of ‘illegal immigrants’ in this county.

Nelson Mandela wrote in his congratulatory letter to you “Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place.”

The year I spent in the Americorps I saw how much can be changed with a vision and few willing hands. President Obama, you have given me hope and renewed my belief that anyone can make a difference. You have placed the burden of change in the laps of the American people and asked us to participate. I will start today by sharing my family’s story and the story of the 12 million PLUS that are praying for a way home and a way out of the shadows.

My story is not unique but also not shared enough. In 2002 I met Raul, my future husband, who was and is an unauthorized immigrant. We were married in 2006. Contrary to the belief that marriage to a US citizen means a pathway to citizenship, as you know, there is no way for Raul to right his wrong and become a legal resident. We have been planning our move to Mexico not wanting our daughter, Lucy (now 11 months) to suffer from the decisions we have made.

Raul came here when he was 17. He crossed the dessert with a gallon of water, a few pesos, a rosary his mom gave him for safe passage and the clothes on his back. Several years later he has daily reminders of the timid boy who arrived in the land of opportunity with his dreams on the horizon. He passes the Chinese buffet that he would frequent for his one a day meal and the bus stop where he slept when it wasn’t worth going home for three hours of sleep. My husband is a gentle and loving man and an exemplary father. Is he a threat to the American way of life?

My hope for the American people is that we will learn to treat all people regardless of race and legal status with dignity and stand up against policies that separate families. That we will not fear what is different but celebrate our rich diversity. My hope for your administration is that you will work to pass immigration reform - making it possible for unauthorized immigrants to achieve legal status, be recognized as a positive addition to our communities and most importantly reunite with their families.

I dream of staying in the country that I love. That I will raise my daughter to be proud of her mixed heritage and of the country that stood up for her family.

Thank you,

Lisa Marie Rios

Obama set to hold twice-delayed immigration meeting (TODAY)

CNNPolitics.com
– CNN's Dan Lothian and Lisa Sylvester contributed to this report

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama is set to begin tackling the politically contentious issue of immigration Thursday, hosting a bipartisan group of congressmen at the White House for what the administration is calling the "launch of a policy conversation."

The meeting, which was delayed twice as economic issues took center stage, is designed to be an "honest discussion of issues where we can identify areas of agreement, and areas where we still have work to do," according to the White House.

The meeting comes less than a week after the president reiterated his commitment to passing comprehensive immigration reform that paves the way for citizenship for millions of undocumented workers.

On Friday, Obama told a Hispanic audience that the "fair, practical and promising way forward" is to strengthen border security, clarify the status of those who are here illegally, and require illegal immigrants to pay a penalty and taxes.

He also said undocumented workers should learn English and "go to the back of the line behind those who played by rules" in terms of applying for citizenship.

"The American people believe in immigration, but they also believe that we can't tolerate a situation where people come to the United States in violation of the law," Obama said in an address to the eighth annual National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington.


"Nor can we tolerate employers who exploit undocumented workers in order to bring down wages," he added.

While immigration reform is a top priority for the president's first term, the nation's continuing economic woes top his list of domestic priorities.

"The president has consistently said that he wants to start the (immigration) discussion later this year because our immigration system is broken," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said earlier this year. "But the economy comes first."

In downplaying the immigration issue, the White House may also be acknowledging the political complexity associated with the issue. Former President George W. Bush made comprehensive immigration reform a priority in his second term, but failed to win congressional approval.

Similarly, the Obama White House may not yet have the support it needs in Congress to pass a comprehensive reform measure.

"Currently, where we sit, the math makes that more difficult than the discussion," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

Several pro-immigration reform groups are nevertheless pushing the administration to make a stronger effort this year, in part because next year's mid-term elections could make major reform even more difficult.

Politically, Obama has been walking a fine line, trying to appease pro-amnesty Hispanic groups who backed him in the election while at the same time trying to win over broader public and congressional opinion by taking a tougher stance on enforcement.

Among other things, the administration earlier this year changed the focus of worksite enforcement raids away from targeting undocumented workers, and instead on employers who break immigration laws.

"The president has some time," said Mark Krikorian from the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favors tighter immigration restrictions.

"I can't guess if he has six months or a year where he can keep kicking the can down the road before he pays a political price from one side or the another. But at some point his time runs out."

Everett woman accused in Arizona slayings

The Seattle Times
Saturday, June 13, 2009

Everett woman accused in Arizona slayings
The Associated Press

Two of three people arrested in a southern Arizona home invasion that left a little girl and her father dead had connections to a Washington state anti-illegal immigration group that conducts border watch activities in Arizona.

Jason Eugene Bush, 34, Shawna Forde, 41, and Albert Robert Gaxiola, 42, have been charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and other charges, said Sheriff Clarence Dupnic of Pima County, Ariz.

The trio are alleged to have dressed as law enforcement officers and forced their way into a rural Arivaca home on May 30, wounding a woman and fatally shooting her husband and their 9-year-old daughter. Their motive was financial, Dupnic said.

"The husband who was murdered has a history of being involved in narcotics and there was an anticipation that there would be a considerable amount of cash at this location as well as the possibility of drugs," Dupnic said.

Forde is the leader of Minutemen American Defense, a small border watch group, and Bush goes by the nickname "Gunny" and is its operations director, according to the group's Web site. She is from Everett, Wash., has recently been living in Arizona and was once associated with the better known and larger Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.

A statement attributed to officers of Forde's group and posted on its Web site on Saturday extended condolences to the victims' families and said the group doesn't condone such acts and will cooperate with law enforcement.

The assailants planned to leave no one alive, Dupnic said at a press conference in Tucson on Friday. He said Forde was the ringleader.

"This was a planned home invasion where the plan was to kill all the people inside this trailer so there would be no witnesses," Dupnic said. "To just kill a 9-year-old girl because she might be a potential witness to me is just one of the most despicable acts that I have heard of."

Dupnic said Forde continued working through Friday to raise a large amount of money to make her anti-illegal immigrant operation more sophisticated.

Forde denied involvement as she was led from sheriff's headquarters.

"No, I did not do it," she said. "I had nothing to do with it."

Gaxiola also denied involvement; Bush was arrested at a Kingman, Ariz., hospital where he was being treated for a leg wound he allegedly received when the woman who survived the attack managed to get a gun and fire back.

Killed were 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her 29-year-old father, Raul Junior Flores. The name of the wounded woman who survived the attack hasn't been released.

Forde is well known in the anti-illegal immigration community, said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.

"She's someone who even within the anti-immigration movement has been labeled as unstable," Levin said. "She was basically forced out of another anti-immigrant group, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, and then founded her own organization."

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