The Unities States of America is a country of immigrants.  The writing on the bronze plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty is a small text from the poem by Emma Lazarus that includes the words. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”  Only Native Americans are native to America despite how early one’s ancestors arrived on these shores. We should at least be able to agree on all three of these statements because they’re true.  But that’s where the facts end and the emotional side of the discussion begins.

I for one have no idea how we, as a nation, should handle immigration reform.  Neither does President Trump, neither did President Obama, neither did George W Bush and neither did President Clinton and so on and so forth. That’s the reason we are still dealing with this issue.  Unfortunately there are more questions than answers. Below are just a fraction of the number of questions that need to be addressed?

How do we control the flow of immigrants into this country?  Do illegal immigrants bring down wages for Americans?  How many immigrants should be allowed in to the country each year? How do we properly vet those who seek a better life from those who want to bring violence? What do we do with the Dreamers and their parents, some of whom have been here ten, fifteen or even twenty years?  Do we treat those who have recently come here illegally, differently from those who have been here twenty years?  What is the cutoff?  Is there a difference between those who arrive by sneaking over the border from those who obtained Visa’s but don’t leave?  What do you do for all of those people who attempt to come here through legal channels?  How does legal immigration have any validity if those who come here illegally achieve the same results?

Again, I certainly don’t have those answers but the point is to understand the issue of immigration is so much more complicated than simply stating that we need to control our borders.  President Obama understood the importance of the issue as he was known as the “deporter in chief” having deported over 2 million people during his two terms in office. Were they all criminals?  Surely with over 2 million deported, President Obama must have broken up at least one family. The media has attempted to demonize Trump but rarely if ever challenged Obama on this very same issue.

Is anyone surprised by Trump’s position?  Trump is attempting to do exactly what he said he would do during the campaign; temporarily restrict immigration from certain countries until he’s convinced that the vetting process is working properly.  We certainly can not call him a liar on this issue. While there were absolutely President Obama haters purely based on the color of his skin, there are also Trump haters who no matter what he accomplishes over the next four years will cry out, “not my President”.  Of course this helps no one and is useless rhetoric, no different from the haters who refused to give President Obama a chance.  Trump is an incredibly flawed human being.  Now what?

We must also question people’s motives.  For example, one could look at the recent “immigrant protest” across America as demonstrating solidarity with undocumented workers but was it really?  Perhaps it was supported by business owners because they need to protect their cheap labor?  What middle class American wants to stand in a 120 degree kitchen and broil hamburgers on a hot day for minimum wage?  What middle class American wants to work outside in the hot sun picking grapes so that wealthy people, Hollywood elites and other one-percenters can enjoy expensive bottles of wine?  Is the support of immigrants by Hollywood elites really selfless or do the Hollywood stars just need nannies to bring up their children?  While I pick on Hollywood, I do it for justifiable reasons.  Those living in the hills of Hollywood and Beverly are the one-percenters and those in the middle class and those who are poor must never forget that.  It’s easy to be sympathetic on issues such as immigration when you live in homes in the sky and look down on the peasants. If anything should be boycotted, it’s the upcoming Academy Awards where elitists in expensive dresses and wearing millions of dollars worth of jewelry show off to the rest of the world what incredible and luxurious lives they lead.  While immigrants struggle just to survive and feed their families. They should all be ashamed.

The purpose of this blog has always been to view all issues from the center.  Only those in the center can see both sides of the issues.  The left is not better simply because you agree with their positions any more than the right is correct for the same reason.  From those on the left, the issue of immigration is simple.  We are a country of immigrants and everyone here should be allowed to stay and anyone who wants to come here should be able to. No legal basis for this argument, pure emotion.  From those on the right it’s also easy.  Stop all those who want to do us harm from entering this country and limit the number of immigrants so we Americans can be safe.  And for good measure, they steal our jobs. Once again, no legal argument, pure emotion.  There is no common ground because each side refuses to at least peek out of their own door and possibly let in an idea or thought that might differ from their own. This stalemate by both sides is untenable.  There are answers but it requires someone with enough guts, credibility and logical reasoning to bring both sides to the table.  All that I do know is that this constant bickering by both sides will never bring about solutions.