America is facing a crisis that will test our resiliency. It's important to ignore much of the noise coming from D.C., as partisans try to figure out how they will pin blame on their opponents. It is crucial that we do pay attention to what is in legislation passing through Congress to ensure this emergency isn't used as another excuse for politicians to reward their donors.
Despite the constant drumbeat of reports to the contrary, there is no worker shortage in the United States. If there were, our crops would go unpicked, our lawns unmown, and our computer games uncoded. Maybe there's something else behind these claims.
President Trump last week reiterated his call for more foreign workers to fill jobs apparently Americans won't do. This was lost in the blow-up between the President and CNN correspondent Jim Acosta. However, it isn't the first time the President has said this, and it isn't true.
Christopher Browning, a professor of German history, published a long essay in The New York Review of Books. The topic wasn't a book review but a vituperative attack on President Trump, including a denunciation of those, Trump supporters or not, who seek to restrict immigration. It is shockingly shoddy work by someone of Browning's stature, and any effect it may have will only serve to inflame political passions.
"Vox explains the news." Or so they say. Last week a Vox writer tried to explain how Baby Boomers are dependent upon immigrants to fund their Social Security. This is untrue. The Social Security system is in dire straits, but immigration is not going to save it. In fact, our current immigration system is putting strains on the system, and more immigration would only make matters worse.
The Western Growers association is working to sabotage the effort to pass a House bill containing E-Verify, despite the fact that the rest of the agribusiness lobby has signed off on the bill. This Western Growers continues to try to defeat any serious attempt to end illegal immigration, and will only accept a permanent "solution" that amounts to indentured servitude for agricultural workers.
The Trump Administration's "zero tolerance" policy for illegal border crossings will reduce illegal immigration. If Congress takes action, it can ensure that parents and children are kept together while they await the outcome of their cases. If the President wants to pursue a "zero tolerance" policy against criminal employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers, he must support the inclusion of E-Verify as part of any necessary reform bill.
President Trump has a clear choice. he can sign the Goodlatte bill, which would fulfill some of his campaign promises, or he can sign the Speaker Ryan "compromise" bill, which is a Gang of Eight redux. Ryan's bill does not include E-Verify, and it won't cut the number of green cards issued every year.
Barbara Jordan is a true hero of the Civil Rights Movement, an icon of American politics, and a guiding light to those who continue to fight for immigration reforms that put the interests of the American people first. Susan F. Martin, professor emerita at Georgetown University and former staff member of the Jordan Commission, wrote a piece last week attacking President Trump for a letter the White House put out praising Jordan's work. Martin was aghast that Trump would "intimate" that he and Jordan held similar policy positions on immigration. President Trump is a political lightening rod, no doubt, even more so than other modern Presidents, but in attacking him Martin misrepresented Barbara Jordan's views on immigration and the recommendations of the Jordan Commission.