Immigration Reform

The issue of immigration reform, like most modern-day issues, seems to have been split cleanly along party lines.

In the wake of a controversial immigration law passed in Arizona in late April, Democrats are pushing immigration reform on the national agenda. Republicans, however, are holding back. Other issues, such as climate change, may "leave Congress with little time to take on such a controversial matter like immigration." However, I think that, especially after a law like the one in Arizona has been passed, it would behoove Congress to take swift action on immigration reform.

Apparently, the Democrats actually have a plan, dubbed REPAIR for Real Enforcement with Practical Answers for Immigration Reform. It makes an effort to reach out to the Republicans, including methods of securing the border along with giving rights to immigrants who are already here. However, the Republicans continue to be obstructionist.

In fact, Senator Lindsey Graham, the one Republican who tried to work with the Democrats on immigration reform, quit. He "said it's clear that Americans do not think the border with Mexico is secure and will not accept an immigration bill until that's fixed." The Republican strategy here seems to be to completely close the border, then think about the rest of the issue later.

I have to disagree with this strategy, because immigration is a complex issue. Simply closing off the border is not a viable solution, given all the current systems that are in place around illegal immigration (our economy, for one). This issue must be treated delicately, with a complex solution, rather than simply building more walls between us and Mexico.

The Republican Party

In another era, I may have been a Republican.

I support the Republicans traditional values, particularly the rights of the individual. According to the GOP site, "the Republican Party, since its inception, has been at the forefront of the fight for individuals' rights in opposition to a large, intrusive government." In a democracy, it's important to have a voice fighting for the rights of individuals. Our founders, although determined to create a government strong enough to defend itself and lead its people, wrote the Constitution with an emphasis on individual freedoms.

In the past, Republican's have backed progressive movements, such as women's suffrage and the abolition of slavery. According to the GOP site, "In 1896, the Republican Party was the first major political party to support women's suffrage. When the 19th Amendment finally was added to the Constitution, 26 of 36 state legislatures that had voted to ratify it were under Republican control....So it was by hardworking Republican hands that color and gender barriers were first demolished in America." These strides in our development as a country helped us push past damaging prejudices, so I support these efforts by the Republican party.
However, I have a few problems with what the modern day Republicans have become, particularly the more radical ones. First of all, it's hypocritical that Republicans don't support gay marriage, given that they "demolished color and gender barriers" previously, as stated above. It's only natural that the next step would be to abolish prejudice against sexual orientation, so it just doesn't make a lot of sense that the Republicans don't back gay marriage.

This may, in part, be due to the fact that religion is so closely tied to politics with many Republicans. An extreme example, of course, is Sarah Palin, who "has called on people to pray for the cooperation necessary to build a natural gas pipeline across Alaska, labeled the U.S. mission in Iraq a 'task that is from God' and argued that students should be taught the creation account from Genesis in public schools." I am a strong believer in separation of church and state, so I disagree with any arguments that religion should be involved in politics, public schools, or the like.


In addition, recently the Republican's have been called the "party of 'no,'" and not without reason. We saw how Republicans made a disciplined effort to block health care reform, and they appear to be doing the same thing on other issues. This article discusses Senator Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) decision to stop working with Senators Kerry and Lieberman on a climate bill. The decision worries supporters of the bill, because, as David Hunter says, "If we don't have bipartisan support, we're not going to have a bill." The United States was structured to pass legislation that has bipartisan support, so the Republicans' refusal to compromise on issues is damaging to the nation.

The Democratic Party

The Democratic party, in recent times, has done a better job of promoting equality and acceptance. According to the Democrat site, "Democrats will fight to end discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and disability in every corner of our country, because that's the America we believe in." I agree that if the United States will stand for "liberty and justice for all," they need to stand by that image, not "liberty and justice for some."

I think that, despite the accusations of socialism coming from the Republicans, the Democrats have done a good job of trying to pass legislation that will protect the people, rather than infringing on their rights. For example, health care reform, while not perfect, was much-needed.

However, that legislation comes at a price. Programs for the people need to be paid for somehow, and expenditures and income are currently unbalanced in our national budget. I've posted this video before, but I will do so again, to make my point.



This frightening inability to stabilize the budget is a weakness of the Democrats.