Humanitarian Immigration Policy Is the Backbone of a Progressive Democracy—Let US Bring It About
Guest blogger: Vincent Goble, law student, University of San Francisco
The evolution of immigration policy in the United States leaves much to celebrate and much to abhor. The U.S. no longer imports slaves or excludes Chinese people, it bans Muslims and separates immigrant families in detention, it provides pathways to citizenship for refugees and childhood arrivals, it detains asylum seekers like criminals and raids communities in search of “removables.” Sadly, and perhaps scarily, which of those aspects of U.S. immigration history an average Democratic or Republican voter believes to be abhorrent or celebratory are diametrically opposed.
Amidst the progress is regression. The liberal democracy of the 20th century saw the U.S. integrate international humanitarian law into its own immigration law (Immigration and Nationality Act). Neo-liberalism and the War on Terror built a vast system of border security enforcement (National Security Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
Under current immigration law, balancing the values of national security and world integration is a tight-rope act where the rope always breaks. Obama tried to appease both sides. He oversaw DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and a record number of deportations, neither of which had to happen, yet both were enormously impactful. Few liked the results.
Regardless of whether one agrees with President Obama’s actions, the degree of discretion afforded to the President in immigration enforcement is the problem. The system is too tenuous, too malleable. Enter Trump.
Donald Trump leverages immigration as a spectacle. He has twisted as many aspects of immigration policy into tools of xenophobia and abuse as possible. His nativistic nationalism is a rallying cry for an uncomfortably large segment of the electorate. Now, his appeal is fading as those who were willing to excuse his brand of racism see he has nothing more to offer, but tax cuts for the rich. Trump is running for President without a platform!
The answer to Trump’s nightmarish rampage into American history is inclusion, and not just at the ballot box. Yes, every vote needs to count. Trump and the Republicans are using every tactic imaginable to suppress the vote and raise doubt as to the legitimacy of the election. They seek eternal minority rule. But even if Trump manages to lose, only inclusive immigration reform can prevent a return of his politics. Push Biden.
Inclusive immigration reform means establishing a path to citizenship for people who are in the United States, including those who are undocumented. It means ending the detention of asylum applicants who arrive at the border and, instead, allowing them to enter while they await their proceedings. It means setting the limit on immigrants from any one country in a given year at a number that is proportional to the number of people applying from that country. It means tearing down the segments of the border wall that Trump has erected.
Broadening access to seeking humanitarian relief for those arriving at our borers is not only the right thing to do in response to their individual stories, it will force Republicans to come to the table with something more than—may it not become proverbial—Donald Trump without a platform. Americans of Latin American ancestry overwhelmingly support the Democratic party. There are no tricks here, the process is gradual, once admitted asylees may apply for permanent resident status, and eventually citizenship with a right to vote. Once in power, the sooner the Democrats take action to broaden accessibility to humanitarian relief, the sooner the demographics of the electorate will reach the tipping point where the Republican party as it is presently known is no longer viable.
The ills of the power dynamics within the Democratic party are well known, from tactics that maintain a centrist status quo, to the general unwillingness of party leaders to ruffle the feathers of the ruling class. But perhaps its greatest weakness in attracting working class voters is the perception that it is responsible for selling out middle America to free trade. Donald Trump has leveraged this by recoiling America from the world and scapegoating immigrants.
So how should the Democratic party overcome the fearmongering that will ensue when it welcomes people at the border? How will it overcome the claims that immigrants are taking all of the jobs, further imperiling the working class already suffering from shortsighted trade policy? How will it fight back against claims that it imperils national security when it drastically reduces ICE’s budget and reassigns it the task of making sure that people appear for their asylum hearings?
Institute a federal jobs program under a program designed to combat climate change through the rapid restructuring of energy sourcing and the modernization of infrastructure. Doing so will bring voters from every state into the fold, reestablishing the Democratic party as the party of the working class. Cries of socialism will ensue, and polarization will continue. But dog-whistling only works for so long when the economic improvement to people’s lives provides a bone with plenty of marrow. In the meantime, opening the pathways to citizenship for people in great need of a safe haven to express their work ethic will hasten the tipping of the scales toward the inevitable leftward lurch of the United States. We all know the planet needs that.
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