A Call To Action
Most Washington insiders think it impossible to make progress on immigration.
And yet, a small corps of seasoned veterans of immigration reform challenges have come to differ. Over the past few months, from the right, left and center, this group has debated the idea of a very narrow non-partisan immigration reform platform that many in Congress, of both parties and holding varying immigration views, may have a hard time opposing – on the merits and politically – to their constituents, states and the country.
For over a decade, as advocates on both sides have pursued sweeping change, no significant immigration reform legislation has gotten through Congress. It’s fair to ask, as our nation considers the stakes of failure for all sides, if it isn’t the time to try a new strategy… a strategy of narrow agreement.
Seize the moment.
“In recent years, our immigration policy has become a matter of major national concern. Long dormant questions about the effect of our immigration laws now assume first rate importance. What we do in the field of immigration and naturalization is vital to the continued growth and internal development of the United States – to the economic and social strength of our country – which is the core of the defense of the free world. Our immigration policy is equally, if not more important to the conduct of our foreign relations and to our responsibilities of moral leadership in the struggle for world peace.”
President Harry S. Truman’s veto of McCarran-Walter Act which Congress Overrode, June 25, 1952