After listening to Trump’s speech on immigration on Monday night and the Democrats’ response to it, I got to wondering what a humane and effective immigration policy might be. Many people seem to think immigration can’t be fixed. I believe it can.
Here are my thoughts, in the form of a convenient, ten point program: Read More
I’ve never been a supporter of wide open immigration. Without some controls over who comes to our country and how many, there’s simply no way workers aren’t going to be hurt — American and immigrant alike. But the case of DACA and the Dreamers is different, for all the reasons we’ve heard, not least of which is that they’re here, have been here, and will continue to be here whether we give them legal status or not. Immigration policy prior to Obama’s DACA order was to deport them. After DACA, the government backed off deportation and instead gave them work permits. Neither is a real solution — one is draconian, the other temporary. A more effective response to their situation would not be to deport them or relegate them to long term resident status but for them to become naturalized citizens. And therein lies the rub — according to current immigration law, they can’t. Read More
