Immigration is definitely a big deal right now. There are several pieces of information that you have to look at to get a good grasp of what's really going on. I think most people know that the recent government shutdown was basically caused by immigration reform, and that the "Dreamers" are in the middle. Let's look at all the sides so that you can decide where you fall on the issue of immigration. I will put my two cents in as well, because I want you to know my rationale for my thinking. First though, here's a quick rundown of terms that are thrown around in the discussion:
- "Dreamers"-A group of young adults who were brought into America illegally as children. They have been here for 10+ years and came forward to say that they were illegal but wanted to stay. According to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals plan (DACA), they are allowed a 2 year deferment for deportation hearings and become eligible for a work permit. Since 2012, about 800,000 Dreamers have been granted protection from deportation. There are a lot of requirements for a person to become a Dreamer. If you want to see all of the requirements, you can visit this website that explains it. Georgetown Law Library
- Chain Migration (most Dems. refer to this as Family Migration)-what happens when immigrants sponsor other family members to gain legal status. Then, those family members sponsor other family members, etc.
- The Diversity Visa Lottery is a lottery system used to randomly pick immigrants from other countries with low immigration rates. According to The Hill "The U.S. receives 10 to 20 million applications each year from countries with low rates of migration to the United States. Of those applicants, 100,000 are chosen at random to be selected for a pool of 50,000 green cards." They are still vetted just like other immigrants though.
The shutdown came after the Republican's said they wanted to continue to fund the government without discussion of DACA and immigration reform because that is a different issue. They offered to extend the CHIP program for another 6 years under the continuing resolution. Most Democrats did not vote for the continuing resolution-and used the DACA exemption as the reason that they wouldn't vote for it. The problem with this plan, however, was that they assumed that when they shutdown the government, the Republicans would be blamed for it. That turned out not to be true. It was also assumed that Trump and the Republicans would cave into the demands of the Democrats when the pressure was on them. So, after 3 days, the ones who caved were actually the Democrats. In return for signing the continuing resolution, they got nothing more than a promise to talk about immigration further down the road. Basically nothing. I will be doing a separate post on the shutdown, so be on the lookout for that.
While views on immigration can vary widely, even within party lines, the majority of Democrats believe that we should continue the practice of chain migration under the basis that it reunifies families. They also want to make a path for illegal immigrants to become citizens and don't want to provide funding to build more of the border wall.
The majority of Republicans believe that the United States needs to increase border security, and should change to a merit-based program for immigrants. Basically a more "America First" idea. Republicans view immigration as a national security issue. They also want to see funding cut to "sanctuary cities".
The latest plan released by Donald Trump would give legal status to 1.8 Million illegal immigrants. In turn, he asked for $25 million for a border wall, an end to the Diversity Visa Lottery, and an end to chain migration. Just to give you a picture of how big of a concession this is, this would triple the number of immigrants given status by President Obama. This is, without a doubt, a huge play by President Trump. By presenting this plan he frustrated a lot of immigration hardliners because they don't want amnesty for that many illegal immigrants. But, the plan also helped him score a victory over the Democrats again. The Democrats don't want to cave to any of Trump's policies and are always quick to try to portray him as a racist. Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi came out and said that Trump's plan was "a campaign to make America white again". The only problem with this is what I stated earlier...this plan almost TRIPLES the number of immigrants given legal status under President Obama. I don't know about you, but to me that doesn't seem very racist at all. Trump knows that the Democrats and media are shining a spotlight on character flaws right now (of which he has many), so he had to play this very strategically. Unfortunately, he's using the Dreamers as leverage, to prove that the Democrats care more about not compromising with Republicans, and less about the fact that the Dreamers will become collateral damage in this fight. Unless the Democrats are willing to work with this plan, DACA will be off the table and the Democrats will be the reason. It will be interesting to see if the Democrats are willing to back up the claims that this is really about helping the Dreamers.
Phew! This is such a complex issue! If you're still reading, bravo! I just want to end with my thoughts on the issue. I do not think the Dreamers should be deported. The idea that they have lived here since children, and then get sent to a country they don't know doesn't sit well with me. I am not opposed to a path to citizenship for them. I do think we need more border security, I am on board with funding for a wall, and I would like to see the Visa Lottery and chain migration stopped and replaced with a merit-based immigration plan. I hope this helps you understand the immigration situation a little bit better.
Meagan
Comments
Post a Comment