new border law is unprecedented. From the White House to girls on the
basketball team, we find people voicing their criticism of the legislation.
Many people upset about the law call it “racist” and “xenophobic.”
Unfortunately, it seems the real reason for the outcry is a political attempt
to change the tables in the 2010 and 2012 elections.
The real game-changer would occur if
the largest minority vote, the Hispanic community, falls uncontested into
the hands of the Democratic Party. If the Democrats can ramp up the rhetoric
loud enough and long enough, they may very well attract a majority of Hispanic
voters for the next two and a half years. If they can keep the controversy
going instead of solving the problem, the party will maintain both their
Congressional seats and perhaps even the presidency.
This same type of political maneuvering
is why so many African-Americans vote religiously for failing Democratic
policies. I have repeatedly described the relationship between blacks and the
Democratic Party as an adulterous affair. An adulterous lover wants what
he wants, when he wants it. But he never gives his mistress true romance and a
genuine place in his life. The long-term adulterer is a master at selling a
dream while using his mistress. As the Bible says, “there is nothing new under
the sun.”
Therefore, I am disappointed with those
who claim Arizona’s law is racist. The president’s popularity is declining
according recent polls, so the Democratic plan to create a new movement based
on the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, is accelerating. It’s unfortunate,
but current lawmakers are not willing to deal with the four major aspects of
the immigration conundrum in the U.S. that include:
- Securing our borders for the protection of the
next generation of people who will risk their lives to reach the
“promised” land - Streamline the administrative process at INS.
(It can take 7 or more years to successfully run the current gauntlet of
regulations) - Enforce employer regulations and close illegal
economic doors - Deal with current undocumented or illegal
residents
Immigration reform requires that we
address these four areas. And we must take care in achieving reform, so others
like Lián González don’t lose their mothers to the rigors of illegal entry into
the United States.
In late 1999, Gonzalez’s mother drowned
while attempting to illegally enter the U.S. She lost her life enroute to the
U.S. from Cuba, but her son and boyfriend made it here alive. The INS initially
awarded custody of the boy to his father’s family in Miami, who wound up
fighting Gonzalez’s biological father for permanent custody. After a
highly-publicized court battle in the U.S., the boy’s father was awarded
custody, and he returned to Cuba with his son in June 2000.
As a humanitarian, I cannot help but
think that sex trafficking, drug dealing, and other criminal activity are
empowered by legal and enforcement loopholes we have allowed for too long. In
fact, some administrative problems at the INS could easily be thrashed out
before the 2010 election. Unfortunately, though, the journey of 1,000 miles
will not begin this summer.
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will
probably want to have an ideological vote or two on measures that will be used
for campaigning purposes. Nonetheless, the substantive problems for the long
journey will not be addressed.
I am convinced that the rhetoric of
recent days is designed to make conservatives appear racist, while attempting
to “force” the nation to support “comprehensive” immigration reform tactics.
Pursuing a more studied, systematic approach will only discover the correct
answer to our problems.
As the pastor of a church with 22
nationalities located in our nation’s capitol, I am aware that this is not
simply a Hispanic problem. It is a national problem, and it will affect
immigrants around the world.
In early 2009, the administration
said “comprehensive” immigration reform would not be touched until the second
half of the president’s first term. In the meantime, the INS has stepped up
surprise raids in Hispanic communities across the country. These raids have
been so troubling that many Hispanic religious leaders have come to Washington
to lobby Congressmen and Senators.
For some Hispanic clergy, they see a
reign of terror in which law-abiding citizens are harassed along with illegal
or undocumented people. Perhaps this is why so many groups are rising up in
opposition to the Arizona ‘s law, which is clearly legal. In my view the
Hispanic community is being manipulated because the folks ordering the raids
are the same folks who blame their political opponents for the ongoing problems
with immigration. In some ways, liberal leaders are talking out both sides of
their mouths and using the most egregious, Machiavellian tactics to create an
atmosphere in which political capital can be made from the pain of law-abiding
immigrants.
I am not saying that racism does not
exist. But I am saying that the democratic and legislative process should not
be shut down by name-calling of the worst order! Abuse of undocumented
workers in the nation is “the New Slavery of the 21st Century,” but we must be
very careful not to botch our opportunity to create powerful, positive change. After
reading Arizona’s new law, I believe the state’s motives are genuine.
As a conservative evangelical I want to
be proactive. Let’s make positive immigration reform today! Let’s be victors
not victims.
