Three Thoughts On Immigration

A recent Op-Ed piece in the Washington Post suggested that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should give Donald Trump the Mexican border wall he has promised his supporters over and over again--but on one condition:  that Trump agree to allow undocumented immigrants not convicted of crimes to apply for a visa that would require them to return to their home country, but then allow them to return and work legally.  This so-called "touchback" program is something that Trump has, in the past, at least rhetorically extended some degree of commitment on his part.

Leaving aside for the moment the question of whether Trump is truly capable of keeping any commitments to anyone other than himself, it's a modestly clever piece of political strategy.  On the other hand, why be so modest?  Trump and congressional Republicans have let it be known that, in exchange for granting citizenship to a handful of the children born in the United States to undocumented parents, they want virtually every enforcement provision that would have been enacted had the House of Representatives voted to approve the 2013 comprehensive immigration bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate.

Well, fair enough.  Why not simply put that bill back into play, with the addition of Trump's wall, additional provisions to protect the American-born children of the undocumented, and perhaps one or two other tweaks to make the bill more up to date?  Why should the Democrats accept the concessions they made to make that bill happen, without also getting the concessions made by the Republicans?  Why not end this divisive debate once and for all?  Or, if not once and for all, at least for a decade or two, since that seems to be roughly the standard interval between public opinion flare-ups about immigration in this country.

Two other thoughts:

Jeff Flake, Republican U.S. Senator from Arizona, has abandoned his plans for re-election rather than submit to the type of campaign style he would need to adopt in the Tea Party-Trump era, especially with the likelihood of a highly contested primary looming.  It's a shame, because his position on immigration issues, while representing a state where immigration is a true hot-button issue, is a reminder of a time when immigration was not automatically a wedge issue, but could be a place where both sides of the proverbial aisle could find common ground.  And I feel that way even though it does increase the likelihood that the Democrats will pick up his seat.

To give you an idea of Flake's reasonableness on the issue, take a look at this, in which he recognizes hard work as a skill that is undervalued in the debate over prioritizing skilled immigrants.  Food for thought, especially considering all of the red-state unemployed Trumpsters who won't move west to do the labor often done by the undocumented.

And, finally, as a reminder that no state is either completely red or blue, and that all of them are filled with good people who care, take a look at this.  As long as there are people like that, there is hope for all of us, no matter where we come from.