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No Independence Day celebration of self-determination without immigration rules -- or more milestone dates than July 4

Roy Beck's picture

Published:  

  by  Roy Beck

On one of the more difficult Independence Days of my life (how about yours?), I want to think more deeply about what we are celebrating. Or at least, what we should be celebrating.

Perhaps we could be less disunited during our 4th of July celebrations if we could think of the holiday as commemorating the aspirational start of a process that continued through many other wonderful dates in our history. I'll name five others.

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New book: Inside story of foundations & media sabotage of immigration enforcement since 1986

Roy Beck's picture

Published:  

  by  Roy Beck

If it has seemed for 30 years that powerful forces have intentionally prevented the rule of law in an orderly immigration system, LOSING CONTROL is a new book that tells you how it was done.

I know a lot of this story. I've worked on the issue full-time since 1991, and was a reporter covering it before that. But I learned a lot of new details from this book, enough that they kept me from skimming and kept me reading every word for each new revelation.

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Super Tuesday and Immigration Politics

Jeremy Beck's picture

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  by  Jeremy Beck
There has been widespread chatter among pundits on both the left and the right that the 2020 Democratic candidates have been moving too far left on immigration, taking positions more extreme than Hilary Clinton who was trounced by Trump among immigration voters. But will Republicans make a clear enough distinction to take advantage of the opportunity?

"A big mistake." "Folly." "Insane." "Death knell." "Political malpractice." Is anyone playing to win on immigration?

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Fighting Fires Without Facing the Facts of California Population Expansion

Christy Shaw's picture

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  by  Christy Shaw

The crises in California are a long way from over, and the problems will be more difficult to solve as the state's population, now at 40 million, continues to grow. Wildfires, water shortages, and planned power outages are just the tip of the iceberg if population is not part of the discussion to fix and enforce U.S. immigration policies.

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Not Yet a 'Silent Spring,' But a Subdued One

Leon Kolankiewicz's Picture

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  by  Leon Kolankiewicz

Fewer flocks and feathers grace our skies, forests, coasts, grasslands, and deserts these days. That's not just a coincidence. As human population increases and millions of acres of natural lands and habitats are permanently altered or lost to development, the survival of our avian neighbors is threatened.

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The Greatest Threat to Wildlife in General and Endangered Species in Particular Is Not Donald Trump's New Rules

Leon Kolankiewicz's Picture

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  by  Leon Kolankiewicz
Around the time of the first Earth Day in 1970, when there were 130 million fewer Americans than at present, environmental scientists, activists and even politicians were outspoken and unequivocal on the threat posed by a growing U.S. population. Yet neither the Trump administration nor its harshest environmentalist detractors are willing to recognize or resolve the greatest threat to all wildlife in the United States: large-scale habitat loss from incessant U.S. population growth.

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Too Many People, Too Little Sand

Leon Kolankiewicz's Picture

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  by  Leon Kolankiewicz
If you were to poll average Americans as to what the most important natural resource is that sustains contemporary civilization, you’d probably get responses such as oil, soil, or water. And each of these would be good answers. For each of these substances is absolutely crucial in sustaining not just our standard of living but our very survival, as are many other renewable and non-renewable natural resources.

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We regard all U.S. citizens -- foreign-born & natives -- the same. THIS is home.

Roy Beck's picture

Published:  

  by  Roy Beck

Shouts such as "concentration camps" and "holocaust" from one side and "send her back" on another side make it impossible to have the civil conversation that a public policy like immigration must have if practical and just solutions are to be adopted.

I urge all who seek a restored order at the border and a reduction in immigration numbers to avoid even a hint of nativism in response to the challenges at hand.

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Trump makes strong case for more fencing without offering amnesties or more foreign workers to get it

Roy Beck's picture

Published:  

  by  Roy Beck

For the moment, I have to say that I was relieved when the President got through his long State of the Union section on immigration.

There had been so much talk about the possibility of a big new announcement and about the efforts of at least a few inside the White House to put together some kind of new comprehensive compromise plan, I was braced for some major backtracking. I breathed a sigh of relief when he moved on to the trade issue without offering an amnesty or asking for larger guest worker programs.

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