Hope...and a Challenge (LINK)

In its lead editorial today (January 6, 2010), The New York Times notes that "The quest for overhauling immigration received two very welcome lifts on New Year's Day."  (For the full text, click on the subject line.)

First, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged at his inauguration to help the Obama administration pass immigration reform.  He said, "No city on earth has been more rewarded by immigrant labor, more renewed by immigrant ideas, more revitalized by immigrant culture."  As The Times suggests, we could easily substitute our "country" in Mayor Bloomberg's statement and it would be every bit as true.

Second, The Times highlighted four immigrant college students who are walking from Miami, Florida to Washington, DC to bring attention to the problems of immigrant children who are denied or have problems securing a college education even if they are very highly qualified.  These young people are denied simply because their parents are undocumented (even though the student may be a U.S. citizen) or they were brought here at an early age and are themselves undocumented but want to become U.S. citizens.

As the editorial notes, comprehensive immigration reform would resolve these injustices not by some broad "amnesty" as its opponents like to say, but by creating a pathway to legalization that requires the undocumented immigrant already living in the U.S. to "show they have been employed, pay a $500 fine, learn English and undergo a criminal background check" in addition to paying any back taxes.  It also notes that this "is not a question of adding new people to the work force; they are already here, many helping keep the economy afloat while tolerating low pay and abuse from lawbreaking employers who prefer them to American workers." 

In sum, "America needs to shut the path to illegal entry and employment while opening smoother and more rational routes to legal immigration."

However, The Christian Science Monitor yesterday reported on "Opponents on immigration reform gear up for forthcoming battle" (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0105/Opponents-on-immigration-reform-gear-up-for-forthcoming-battle).  Noting that "Immigration reform is far down on Washington's 'to do' list, after healthcare reform, the Afghanistan war, and job creation." it also reports that "outside the Beltway, in America's community centers and protest venues, you'd think someone had already pushed the hot button to bring this always-simmering issue to a boil."  For example, on November 14, 2009, 50 "Tea Party Against Amnesty and Illegal Immigration" rallies were held around the U.S.

Countering that, however, pro-Reform groups held 900 "house parties" (including one here at St. Anthony of Padua) nationwide.  As pollster Peter Brodnitz has found in his recent polling, "Americans have a more knowledgeable and nuanced opinion than they did a few years ago."  His most recent poll "...found that 86 percent of American voters given details of comprehensive reform want Congress to pass a plan."  The challenge for those supporting immigration reform is to reach out and educate our communities about the details of comprehensive reform.