The Quote Below—More Misinformation from the Media:
“As many as 6 million U.S.-citizen children are at risk of having a parent taken away because they don’t have permanent legal status. These children live with anxiety, fear, depression and other serious conditions because they don’t know whether their mother or father will be deported while they are at school during the day.
“This is a moral issue. It is not political. It is not partisan.
“Right now, without further delay, Congress should end the harm to millions of children and create a pathway to citizenship for their parents who are Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and undocumented immigrants including farmworkers and essential workers. It has been 35 years since Congress last updated our immigration laws. We cannot allow another generation to suffer needlessly.
“Immigration solutions are not only the right thing to do; they are good for [the economy]. . . . This . . . includes . . . $31 billion in federal, state and local taxes per year. . . .
Fortunately, there is another way forward. The House and the Senate can pass the immigration solutions America needs using a procedure known as reconciliation. This is a rule in the Senate that allows a bill to pass with a majority of votes and prevents a minority of senators from blocking it with a filibuster. The reconciliation rule—which essentially represents majority rule—offers the best chance to create a path to citizenship for Dreamers, . . .
“The Senate parliamentarian was wrong when she ruled that immigration solutions should not be included in the budget reconciliation bill. . . . But ultimately, it doesn’t matter to the average person what rule or procedure Congress uses. We just want the job done.
“That is because Americans value our identity as a nation of immigrants. Many of our faith traditions teach that we should welcome the stranger, since we were once strangers. . . “. – Congress Must Pass Immigration Reform, Carole Segal and Rebecca Shi, Newsweek, 9/20/21 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: This article begins with emotional manipulation, specifically the claim that children of illegal aliens are living in desperate fear that their parents could be deported at any time. That’s hardly likely with the Biden Administration systematically dismantling immigration law enforcement. And even if immigration laws were being enforced, families would not have to split. Illegal aliens could simply take their children home with them.
Next the writers proclaim that amnesty for is “moral.” They don’t explain what is so ethical about rewarding people with citizenship who break our laws. Along with amnesty for illegal aliens, the writers propose permanent residence for TPS holders, people allowed to stay until certain conditions in their countries improve. What is it about the word “temporary” that these authors don’t understand? Apparently. laws don’t matter to them, as they seem to prefer moral posturing.
They maintain that amnesty would be good for the economy, and somehow increase tax revenues by $31 billion. But the source they cite, FWD.us, is notorious as a propaganda arm for business interests seeking cheap labor. A much more reliable source is the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which estimates that the proposed amnesty would cost $124 billion during the first ten years after it passes.
The Senate parliamentarian was correct not to permit amnesty legislation in the budget reconciliation bill. Legislation simply isn’t appropriate in a budget bill. Amnesty advocates don’t care. In the words of these writers, they “just want the job done.” Reconciliation allows them to push their agenda through without the scrutiny involved in standard process of passing bills.
The authors end by playing the tiresome “nation of immigrants” card. They use it to manipulate sentiment about immigration and thereby short circuit rational consideration of immigration policy. Saying we’re a “nation of immigrants” provides no guidance as to what level or composition of immigration best serves our national interest. Our faith traditions teach hospitality to strangers, as a matter on interpersonal ethics. But this tradition is no mandate for government policies of endless mass immigration. These can only lead to social and political chaos, and there’s nothing moral about that.