Find Common Ground On Immigration [Opinion]

Longtime Democratic Club Leader Calls for Democrats and Republicans to Find Common Ground on Immigration Opinion]

PALM DESERT — I read the recent op-ed on Immigration. Yes, this was one of five core issues brought up 45 years ago as finally a bill was introduced in the 1980’s to provide Comprehensive Immigration Reform to a broken system.

The five issues included the following:

• A path to Citizenship for the undocumented
• Protection for the Rights of the undocumented
• Keeping families together
• Help to Countries from which immigrants left for better jobs and to escape violence
• Reasonable Border Control policies

History will tell us that hard line Republicans have blocked and resisted Comprehensive Immigration Reform for the past 45 years. Their focus has always been on Border Control and spreading the lie that Democrats favor “Open Borders.”

The cruel and ugly results of this hard-core Republican approach have been on display for the past few months in violation of all we hold true and dear about how we treat our fellow human beings.

In my opinion, the approach to being nice to Republicans is not the same as being able to engage in meaningful dialogue on these issues.  One might even opine that being nice gives the impression that the oppression of the undocumented is less important than being nice.

Instead of preaching to the choir, we need to find common ground (if that is possible) with Republicans and agree that the system needs to be fixed on all five levels-not just the border.