June 20, 2018
The recent images of children of undocumented immigrants being put into "immigration centers" without their parents cast a dark shadow on the benevolent ideals of the American story. How President Trump handles this issue will shape how the world views the United States for years to come.
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When Donald Trump campaigned for the Oval Office, one of his pledges was to enforce a strict immigration policy, one that deports undesirable immigrants, while building a large wall to keep out new, unwanted immigrants. Those who voted for him support this new policy, and those that hate President Trump view this policy as racist, xenophobic and downright hostile to "brown and black" immigrants who are in the United States.
In a highly politicized America, these images have caused a lot of anger and shame for those who are liberal. It has given the Democrats a huge campaign issue, one that could be used to give the Democrats back power in the lower house, (the U.S. Senate notwithstanding). I agree that the Trump Administration, by releasing the images of the children in cages in these centers, does not look good around the world. So, what was his purpose in releasing this information? I am guessing that it was for those who support and voted for President Trump. Whichever aid in the White House suggested he release those images should be fired, for the sole reason that aides in the White House have jobs whose sole purpose is to protect the president's policies and his first term so that he gets re-elected. Unless Trump feels that his support is so strong that he can do no wrong and that he will get positive reviews from Republican members of Congress and the GOP Establishment.
From what I have seen, a few prominent Republican senators are against what the administration is doing, at least in terms of separating children from their parents. These include Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina. Many Democrats who are angling for the White House in 2020, such as Senators Kamala Harris, feel that this does not look good for the United States, and propose ending this policy, while trying to find common ground with Republicans. Ms. Harris is in agreement that undocumented immigrants who are felons should be deported, but the rest can find a place in the United States and provide for their families.
Immigration has been something that has been talked about by previous administrations, but nothing new and concrete has been able to pass the United States Congress. The Republican hard right doesn't want an immigration policy that provides so-called "amnesty" to any "undocumented immigrant," but rather deport all undocumented immigrants. This to me sounds like they want to remove a significant percentage of non-white (Hispanic, primarily Mexican) immigrants from the United States. That seems unreasonable, along with appearing to be quite racist. The better solution would be to grant Green Cards to those who show a desire to live peacefully and productively in the United States. Since they came over the border illegally, a probational period of three years (instead of the usual two) once they register with the federal government, is a fair and acceptable compromise, I feel. This is something most Democrats can support because it does not require payment of a large fee, self-deportations, which sound ridiculous and delayed entry into the United States. This separates families for years and causes economic hardship for lower-income families.
However, nothing will move the needle to effective make progress. Not because there are those members of Congress who want to see a significant law or policy dealing with how America handles immigrants who wish to come to the United States. Rather, the bigger issues that no one talks about aloud are that undocumented immigrants allow for the depressed wages that small businesses and large corporations covet to in order to turn a profit, even handsomely. Additionally, workers without legal or labor protections do not force those businesses from providing health and pension benefits (which is another serious, and growing problem, regardless), thereby adding to encumbrances and lowering much-desired profit margins. Liberals want to see this issue resolved because as whites leave the Democrats in large numbers, they need a new constituency that votes as an ethnic bloc like the African-American community to provide them electoral victories.
Even with this issue front and center, I doubt legislative measures will be passed. Democrats want to see a new constituency to their broad, identity-based political tent. Those entrenched conservatives who want the status quo are afraid of changing racial demographics, a significant increase in Democratic votes, and fear of losing profits for businesses mean that TV images alone will not change what is turning into another contentious issue for the divided American people.
Immigration is a vital part of the American history and fabric but the illegal process has created the partisan divide as you rightly point out and is difficult to solve quickly after years of no finite plan or decision. I agree that the current crisis of family separation is created for political reasons since this policy had been in place even during the previous Obama Administration. Sadly no legislator(s) have shown stature or wisdom in how this issue can be solved. I doubt if this can be resolved in anytime soon.
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