Immigration

Our current immigration system is broken. Nobody wants the status quo. We can probably all agree on this point.

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For too long, this country has failed to implement a workable system despite the fact that we have known for decades that this is a problem. This is not an easy issue, and there is a lot of blame to go all around, but the current Administration's cruel, lawless and inhumane approach is NOT a solution. 

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We must have control over our borders and sovereignty within our country. However, every PERSON in this country is entitled to due process under the law and our Constitution. This is not an opinion, it as a FACT. 

We have to make a workable system to limit and screen those who want to come to our country as immigrants. We have a lot of work to do. 

Unless we are Native Americans, we are ALL immigrants. Our ancestors came to this country fleeing war, famine, oppression, poverty and revolution. They came seeking better lives for themselves and their families. For some African Americans whose ancestors were brought here involuntarily, the struggle for hard-won rights in our society that has not been historically just has been long and hard. But in the great American Experiment, we strive to be part of "We the People", working together in one way or another to make this country unique in the world. 

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The economy is not a pie: "More for me, less for you". It doesn't work like that. It is my firm belief that when we allow all our people to succeed, everyone benefits and everyone is lifted up. We all rise with the tide.  

Most people who have been living in this country for years - hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding neighbors and friends - not only add to, but are essential for, the success of our economy. They are the backbone of our current way of life. The whole country thrives and benefits from the fruits of their labors. Most of them are not criminals, any more than people whose parents and grandparents were born in this country. That is a FACT, not an opinion. The Republicans, whatever their motivation, are lying to the people for their own ends. 

Immigrants work hard in our factories, our food processing, our fields and orchards, our construction and maintenance industries, in preparing and serving our food, and in so much more. If they are honest and productive members of society, some of them here for nearly their whole lifetimes, they deserve a route to normalize their position. It is a national disgrace that they are now living in constant fear of imprisonment and deportation without due process.

​​No person is "illegal". They may be here without legal permission, but at this time it is nearly impossible to obtain legal status without an array of expensive lawyers. (Or the ability to pay 5 million dollars for a "Gold Card".) What is particularly repugnant is the current practice of trapping people who are legitimately trying to obtain status, attending immigration court or showing up for routing check-ins with DHS. 

Mass roundups and indiscriminate deportations of legal residents and citizens by masked goons, arrests on flimsy or non-existent charges, border search and seizure of citizens, legal residents and innocent visitors alike, are carried out with the goal of terror and intimidation. They are unconstitutional and un-American. And massively unpopular.    

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The Administration and the Representatives who are aiding and abetting these illegal acts should be ashamed. Congress could stop all this this TOMORROW, but they are deliberately choosing not to serve the Constitution and the laws of our country to which they swore an oath. 

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OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES ARE NOT ONLY COMPLACENT, THEY ARE COMPLICIT. WE DESERVE BETTER!​