Immigration
Whereas the United States is a country of immigrants, and
Whereas each immigrant is worthy of respect, and
Whereas an immigration plan must protect the dignity of all, and
Whereas any such plan must hold within it a path to citizenship,
Be it thereby resolved:
Okay, here I fall apart. And this is format for a resolution rather than a platform plank, I'll review my language for planks and recast this except that there really should be some meat in here, even if it's not meaty at this point... uhhhh... (this is what everybody else is for, my brain has too many holes in it)...
remembering the parable of the good Samaritan, and the woman at the well and (other people who enhance our understanding of how to live the Christian life,
this plan (you know, the one I couldn't think of, the one someone else is going to think of that is broad that we all can agree with) honors and protects the potential contribution of every immigrant while protecting the resources needed to preserve the quality of life for all.
Now I can think of a plan that very few people will agree with (heh) that I like, but it seems like getting a platform together will be easier and less prone to flame warring if we go from broad to narrow, rather than me posting my plan and throwing it out to the wolves (that's you, too) because we'll discover what we can't agree on without developing a plan we all like.
Why is immigration an issue?
We have one of the greatest countries in the world, and if we play the Pied Piper's siren song of capitalism, and folks come running, then aren't we being a wee bit hypocritical?
I was listening to NPR last week, and a farmer was quoted as saying, "Well, there aren't any AMERICANS chomping at the bit to pick my fields for minimum wage." He was bemoaning the tightening of the borders, and was actually contemplating shifting crops due to lack of labor. When we're paying more for tomatoes, it's simple supply and demand--farmers cannot get the labor to pick tomatoes, so they'll grow less tomatoes.
I'm not sure about the framing of this debate, because it seems so fluid. Crime? Statistically speaking, and we all know that we can make statistics say anything, I'm not convinced. Overburdening infrastructures? Hmmm... has anyone heard of the word, "growth"? When my family grew, I bought a bigger house.
I'm not quite sure what's at the root of this immigration debate, other than an extreme case of xenophobia brought on by 9/11.
When I google the history of this debate, it ebbs and flows. . .Beirut bombing, immigration is an issue. . .first World Trade Center attacks, immigration is an issue. . .
I smell something fishy with the immigration debate. . . red herring, perhaps?
Trade treaties: economic impact, moral responsibilities
Something that wasn't included in the IPC Declaration on Immigration Rights: NAFTA and similar trade treaties allow the US government to subsidize agricultural products with the effect that they can be sold -- or dumped -- at below local costs of production in Mexico and elsewhere. This impoverishes small farmers and leads to increased emigration from Mexico to the US.
So, we should be framing much of the immigration "problem" in terms of "economic refugees" for whom we have a moral responsibility, since we have created or helped to create the conditions which have turned them into economic refugees.
This factor differentiates the immigration waves of the past from the current one. Earlier, we didn't create the conditions from which new immigrants were fleeing. Now we're deeply implicated in the whole process. And then there are the refugees from Iraq -- particularly those who are being targeted because they have collaborated with the USA. The government has been shamefully restrictive and slow in allowing them in.
So -- one or two of the whereases should refer to this moral responsibility that's shared by all of us citizens.
Bill