Immigration views unbecoming of U.S.
When it comes to immigration reform, the House is turning a blind eye to the influence of the Statue of Liberty, and starting to look a bit like “Scrooge.”
Immigration is supposed to be the celebrated lifeblood of this country. But now Congress wants to look at immigrants another way — as potential criminals.
On Friday, the House debated an enforcement bill that would take unlawful entrants out of the relative calm of immigration law and place them squarely in the criminal realm.
While no final vote was taken, the House agreed to continue debate after the holidays.
Under the bill, immigration crimes could become aggravated felonies. What was once a mere deportation order and ticket home, now becomes a lengthy detention in the pokey.
It also means state and local police officers, usually untrained in federal immigration matters, will be the main line of defense against the 11 million estimated to be “undocumented” immigrants. Sorting the legal ones from the illegal ones can be tricky and could turn this “get tough” proposal into an abusive crackdown.
The bill also doesn’t just focus on the undocumented. If you have a live-in nanny who entered illegally, you could be charged as an “alien smuggler.”
The House bill, primarily known for advocating a fence along portions of the U.S. border with Mexico, is so lopsided in its punitive approach, it fails to include amnesty or ways for the longtime undocumented to become legal.
Immigration has been too important to our country to be seen under such a harsh criminal light.
Hawai'i knows this lesson well. Our economy was built, and continues to thrive, on the energy of immigrants.
By pushing immigrants away, we are driving away energy, innovative talent and skills that directly benefit of our economy. If they can’t come here, these people will settle elsewhere, driving the economic growth of other nations and reducing our own competitive advantage.
It will be up to the Senate in February to take the House bill and hammer out a more humane final version on immigration reform.
