Newspaper Page Text
OPINION
THURSDAY, JULY 5-11, 2018 • Page 5
The ongoing saga of border security
Our nation is again torn by a
subject that has relatively minor actual
impact on citizens of the United
States—attempts at illegal immigration
at our nation’s southern border.
I believe most Americans welcome
newcomers and most also have
extreme compassion for those who
seek a better life and attempt to
enter our country illegally This is an
issue that has divided our nation for
decades and is not likely to be settled
any time soon.
In 1996 then-President Bill
Clinton in his State-of-the-Union
speech said, “After years of neglect,
this administration has taken a
strong stand to stiffen the protection
of our borders. We are increasing
border controls by 50 percent. We are
increasing inspections to prevent the
hiring of illegal immigrants.. .Let me
be very clear about this: We are still a
nation of immigrants.. .But we are also
a nation of laws.”
In November of 2014 President
Barack Obama said, “When I took
office, I committed to fixing this
broken immigration system. And I
began by doing what I could to secure
John Hewitt
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our borders. Today, we have more
agents and technology deployed to
secure our southern border than at
any time in our history.”
And just days after President
Donald Trump announced a zero-
tolerance policy regarding illegal
immigration, he backtracked due to a
storm of social and political pressure
and is allowing families to be detained
together rather than separating
children from parents or guardians.
Each administration has
put tremendous time and effort
in attempting to limit illegal
immigration, or at least has put forth
an effort to pretend to. And each time
efforts are made by either the sitting
Democratic or Republican president,
their efforts are met with extreme, and
at times deceptive, reactions that are
both critical and supportive.
Americans have become so
polarized by the ugly game of politics
that depending on who delivers the
message, it can be either welcomed
or vilified. In reality, all recent
presidents have had to deal with
illegal immigration and take the hits
from the opposing side. And, after
all the photo ops, press releases and
media coverage, rarely is any progress
made in curbing the flow of illegal
immigration across our borders.
It baffles me that some are not
concerned that thousands are entering
our country illegally. The first act
committed by these newcomers is one
that is unlawful and sets a precedence
of ignoring the laws of our nation. As
most of us have been taught from an
early age, first impressions are often
lasting impressions.
I welcome immigration and all
the contributions of immigrants
since the founding of our nation.
However, for those who have no
criminal background, there are legal
ways of entering our country that are
both safer and often less costly than
attempting to do so illegally.
Surely those who choose to attempt
to cross national borders illegally must
know there will be consequences if
they are caught.
It is truly an unfortunate situation
for those who are trying to make a
better life for themselves. However,
when they choose to knowingly
disregard our laws and if their efforts
at illegal entry are successful, their
rights are extremely limited. Without
proper documentation, immigrants
are unable to obtain a green card to
allow them to be legally employed in
the United States and in most cases are
not able to attain a driver’s license.
Life for those attempting to
immigrate would be so much simpler
if they would enter our country at
designated entry points, follow the
established procedures and begin their
new life with all the benefits afforded
those who follow the rules.
Granted, legal immigration can be
both costly and time-consuming, but
the rewards far outweigh the problems
created by illegal or unlawful entry.
Land of the free?
At least to me, one of America’s
greatest strengths is the melting pot of
humanity which forms our nation. My
own family, on the paternal side, is of
Scotch/Irish/Welsh descent—heavy
on the Irish. My paternal great, great
grandfathers, on both side of that
branch of the family tree, entered
America as stowaways, fleeing poverty
and one of the many potato famines
which blighted the Irish economy at
the dawn of the 20th century.
I am also proud of my Southern
heritage, but dad’s family did not arrive
here in Decatur and Atlanta until 1946.
In our family, I am the first generation
‘born’ Southerner. My point being,
although I am one of those increasingly
rare Atlanta natives born at Crawford
Long Hospital (now Emory Midtown),
most everyone I know here and around
this nation came here from somewhere
else.
It was America—our Statue of
Liberty and Ellis Island—which began
welcoming the world’s poor, weak and
huddled masses, in part to provide the
labor to fuel the Industrial Revolution,
as well as to build out our nation’s
infrastructure as well as the skylines of
many cities such as New York, Chicago,
Boston and Detroit.
I do believe that we need control
of our borders and that dozens of
laws already on the books for decades
should be enforced. But just as
America is a nation of laws, we are
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t Opinion’
Bill Crane
bill.csicrane@gmail.com
known for being a kind and humane
people. With plenty here for most, and
yes, less for some, we have long been
the world leader in doing charitable
good, in policing or rebuilding other
countries who we have vanquished, or
assisting our long-term allies facing
times of trouble.
I live near Clarkston, an
officially designated federal refugee
community. Eleeing oppressive and
murderous regimes across west Africa,
thousands of families—with hundreds
employed nearby at our DeKalb
Farmer’s Market—are here working
hard to learn English, put their skills or
trade to work and assimilate into our
neighborhoods and communities.
My immediate neighbors hail
from a Latin American country, also
in turmoil. Their children are among
my daughter’s closest friends; this
family of modest means would give
someone else in need food from their
table as well as the clothes off their
own backs. They work hard, pay
taxes and participate actively in our
economy. Their presence here only
strengthens our community.
As a country we have largely
not revisited or amended federal
immigration laws since 1986. The
Immigration Reform Act of 1986
contained some challenged policy
decisions, still in force in a nation
radically different 32 years later. That
law could not anticipate the several
hundred thousand young DACA
recipients, brought here as young
children by their parents, with no real
say at the time as to where they would
live or later stay. For many of these so-
called ‘dreamer,’ America is the only
home they know.
Aren’t we still the people who
welcome, assist and support our
neighbors? Aren’t we still a growing, yet
aging population that needs younger
families and a growing population base
to fund the expensive social safety net
which looms yet ahead of us, as well as
providing able-bodied worker income
producing revenue to help fund Social
Security, Medicare and Medicaid?
As a father with still one young
child, I cannot envision approaching
the border of another nation with all
but our lives immediately on the line,
and likely virtually all of our remaining
and worldly possessions on our backs.
If we are unwilling to accept willing
immigrants into our nation with only
the most extenuating of circumstances,
then I suspect in the matter of a
generation, we will be much less a
people because of that.
Our infrastructure could use
significant reinvestment. What about
work requirements or public service
for entry? What about restoring low
wage apprenticeships to train and
learn a trade? Many industries still
need low wage and unskilled labor to
perform a wide array of tasks ranging
from pulling crops out of fields, to
outdoor construction to cleaning
America’s restaurants and hotels, that
most other Americans shun. In a zero
tolerance, lock the doors, build the wall
environment, costs escalate quickly,
labor shortages become real overnight,
and we end up quickly in a place of want
and need, perhaps with fewer resources
even available to share.
President Trump has not yet
changed out the sign at the base of our
Statue of Liberty. But it seems, at least
for the remainder of his administration,
the more appropriate message might be,
“No applicants need apply.”
Bill Crane also serves as a political
analyst and commentator for Channel 2 s
Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk 750
and now 95.5 FM, as well as a columnist
for The Champion, DeKalb Free Press and
Georgia Trend. Crane is a DeKalb native
and business owner, living in Scottdale. You
can reach him or comment on a column at
bill.csicrane@gmail.com.