Immigration

Well, immigration and Paul Ryan, newly elected Speaker of the House is the actual title to this post.

On Face the Nation, a Sunday CBS news program, Paul Ryan claimed he would not work with President Obama on immigration reform precisely because he and his fellow republicans cannot trust the President on the issue.

He claims that the President’s executive orders focused on immigration problems are an overreach of executive power.

Let’s look at that claim. George W. Bush used executive orders continuously throughout his eight years in office. In all kinds of situations, Bush used his ‘power’ to side step congress. It was faster and didn’t have the messiness of dealing with congress and its prerogatives. Paul Ryan was witness to that with each step. He knows the power of the White House through use of executive orders. By their very nature they are temporary and easily undone by the successor office holder. They do not have the force of law made by the legislative body – Congress. And Obama has used his powers with great reluctance, first seeking solutions with congress; alas they did not respond, and he issued his orders where he thought prudent. Not very often at that. Certainly not as often as W.

Now let’s look at other claims. First, Congress has done nothing – zero – about the immigration mess. Some count the number of illegal immigrants in our nation at eleven million; others pin the number closer to 14,000,000 – yes fourteen million people. All because legislators felt nothing could be done about the problem.

Well innocent people are getting hurt by this inappropriate lack of action by Congress. Families are split apart. Their status to remain in country is up in the air. They have no papers and have difficulty finding a job, paying living expenses, building a future. They are here in our country because they felt remaining in their own was inconceivable. In many of their cases remaining at their homes meant certain death. And continued poverty that would spell slow deaths of their loved ones.

So they took courage and left with whatever they could carry. Refugees from their own native lands where life was intolerable. Like war torn nations – Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Ukraine, Crimea – life is impossible at home. Violent death is the only outcome to expect. So emigration happens the world over. Look at what is happening in the Mediterranean region. Millions of refugees flee and head for Europe via Turkey, leaky overcrowded boats. Death is too often the result of such escapes. But the trek to freedom and safety is harsh, uncertain and all too evident in the lack of hospitality afforded the refugees. International news coverage of their misery is a constant reminder to those who are safe at home.

Yet the places of refuge remain unreachable. Doors are closed. Fences are erected. Walls barring their progress are threatened. Armed troops monitor their progress or their retention camps. Sanitation, medical assistance and food and water are all in short supply.

Lovely that. Now switch to America, the land of the immigrant. “Give me your tired and poor huddled masses yearning to live free…” is the inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Yes, our Statue of Liberty, our monument to open doors, hands and arms. We who have embraced millions upon millions of immigrants generation after generation and count this massive relocation of humanity as our strength, now we say otherwise?

Paul Ryan, republicans, church going believers – whoever you are and wherever you are hiding – please come out and work together to solve these horrendous human issues. In the doing, prove that you truly caring human beings and American at that.

Our roots are that of immigrants. Each and every one of us. Some of our roots are older than others but roots in immigration are all part of our personal and national history. We have been mighty proud of that. Why not now?

Why. Not. Now?

That is the question. Politics has mucked this up for generations now. Reagan tried to fix it. So did George H.W. Bush. And Clinton. And George W. Bush. And now Barack Obama. They had help from some key people back in their day, including John McCain. But no, republican leaders said this was an issue they owned and would not yield it to anyone. Not even their own party president!

How do you spell stubborn? Well it is obvious!

Paul Ryan, you are introducing your political stripes quite early. But the gridlock goes on. Evidently you are not a man of peace and principle. You are not a man of action setting the world aright.

More’s the pity that we Americans have yet to find compromise and cooperation among our elected officials.

Truly this era will be our shame for generations to come.

November 2, 2015