Immigration is a balance between our nation’s obligation to the persecuted and worthy of asylum and its existential requirement to attract people who can fill gaps in our human capital. We are also a country with borders that must be respected by people on both sides. We exist in a world where we must lead in matters of refugees and asylum, a spirit that at some point allowed all our ancestors to migrate to the USA. At the same time, we must operate competitively in an international labor market with countries far more articulate about the people they want and don’t want; the people all modern forward-looking nations need. We want everyone to experience the greatness of the United States, but we recognize that space is limited. Immigration policies are a reflection of who we are as a nation. It is also a form of diplomacy, and strong immigration laws give the Executive the room to diplomatically maneuver within acceptable boundaries of American values. Our values preclude us from continuing to marginalize within the law (and nowhere else) millions of people who are entrenched and who have grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are citizens. Yet we must also be vigilant that our national goodwill not be taken for granted. Our values also preclude us from turning a blind eye to hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants, many of whom are trying to escape great economic hardship and government dysfunction.
- Propose legislation laying out a path to legalization for the 12 million undocumented who were part of the bipartisan plan from the Bush administration
- Propose legislation creating visa classifications for professionals in fields of national necessity
- Propose legislation that creates a fast track category for asylum, thus letting the world know where we stand, and who has the likeliest chance for asylum
- Create a panel of academic, political and religious experts to declare the fast-tracked categories annually
- Declare the central American migrant situation as an international crisis, where those in flight should be classified as refugees
