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Mail
Magazine 24
What
Immigration Reform Must Do
by Amy Payne
Immigration
is a difficult
issue—there’s no getting around that. How do we encourage and improve
lawful
immigration, while deterring unlawful immigration?
David
Addington, head of Heritage’s
Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, takes on this
question
just as the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” nears a deal on a new bill. He
writes:
The
U.S. should reform its
immigration system through a careful, step-by-step process that
welcomes lawful
immigrants, encourages their full participation in American life, and
expands
opportunity. The process also must prevent unlawful immigration,
encourage
respect for law, secure America’s borders, and preserve America’s
sovereignty.
Heritage
has described this
step-by-step process for a problem-solving approach to immigration
issues, such
as reform of the lawful immigration system, visa reforms, lawful
temporary
worker arrangements, and strong border and interior enforcement.
Broad
federal declarations usually
don’t work, and a one-size-fits-all immigration policy is not the way
to go.
It’s
also important to remember why
people come to America. They are drawn by the promise of freedom and
the chance
to make a better life for themselves and their families.
The
best thing we can do for all
immigrants—past and future—is to make sure that America remains a place
where
people want to come. America must be a place where citizens are
protected and
laws are enforced. Respect for the law is what makes individual freedom
possible; the Constitution safeguards our freedoms.
Immigration
policy that extends
amnesty to unlawful immigrants goes against that respect for the law
that makes
America stand out in the world. As new congressional plans emerge,
Addington
warns that people who knowingly entered or remain in the U.S.
unlawfully should
not receive amnesty:
Amnesty
comes in many forms, but in
all its variations, it discourages respect for the law, treats
law-breaking
aliens better than law-following aliens, and encourages future unlawful
immigration into the United States.
America
needs—and wants—immigrants
to enrich the nation. At the same time, we have to protect the nation’s
borders
and its sovereignty. Workable immigration reform will balance these
necessities
without compromising the American values that attract immigrants in the
first
place.
Source:
blog.heritage.org
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