Borderline Disorder

Borderline Disorder

The new tactic by which a few Republican governors are calling attention to the border crisis involves dumping immigrants in strategic places, like Martha’s Vineyard. A brilliant move from a publicity standpoint, but if the immigrants were lied to about where they were being taken, that makes those governors human traffickers, plain and simple.

That said, we’ve been hearing about the immigration mess for decades, and almost nothing has been done to solve it. There has to be a middle ground between putting up border walls and letting only a few acceptable people in and having open borders where everyone gets in. Successive Congresses and presidential administrations have failed to work this out. I don’t know what the solution is, but it’s probably going to be expensive. So is doing nothing.

When you think about immigration on a broader scale, though, the line between “us” and “them” is pretty thin. Many of our ancestors were immigrants. Most of us here now didn’t have to fight for our citizenship. All we had to do is be born here. We aren’t better or more patriotic for that, we’re just lucky.

If it were up to me, those fortunate enough to be born here would get the first 21 years “free,” so to speak, but then would have to pass the same test that is administered to new immigrants seeking citizenship now. They would lose certain benefits of citizenship until they passed it. As an alternative, they could put in a certain amount of community service or enlist in the military.

The United States of America isn’t just a geographical area with borders. It’s an idea. People from outside want to come here because of what it represents, or what they believe it does, which typically involves a better life. It seems to me that everyone who lives here, whether born here or not, should have to demonstrate some buy-in.

My own idea may be one for future consideration. But right now, instead of using immigration as a political weapon, both parties have to begin a meaningful discussion about how to untangle the current system - and “system” is a generous word for it. It’s going to require what for some is an ugly word: compromise. Do we want to keep talking about immigration the same way forever, or do we want to fix it?