TOM JAWETZ @ CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: “Restoring the Rule of Law Through a Fair, Humane, and Workable Immigration System”

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2019/07/22/472378/restoring-rule-law-fair-humane-workable-immigration-system/

Tom Jawetz
Tom Jawetz
Vice President, Immigration Policy
Center for American Progress

OVERVIEW

Policymakers must break free of the false dichotomy of America as either a nation of immigrants or a nation of laws, and advance an immigration system that is fair, humane, and actually works.

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Read the entire much longer, but well worth it, article at the above link.

Tom is totally right: It’s absurd to let Trump and the restrictionists attempt to take the “rule of law high ground.” No Administration in our lifetime has had less respect for or been more detrimental to the U.S. Constitution and the true rule of law. Just look at the suspensions of refugee and asylum laws and the absolute disaster Trump has wrought in the U.S. Immigration Courts!

Also, no Democrat is actually calling for an “open borders” policy. Being in favor of much more robust legal immigrant admissions, a larger and more generous refugee program, and the end of expensive, inhumane, and counterproductive enforcement methods will actually make our borders more secure by ending the absurdity of equating refugees and those coming to work with terrorists, drug smugglers, and others who might be coming to do us harm. 

With more generous and realistic legal immigration laws and policies, more folks will chose to use the legal system (even when it means reasonable waiting times), fewer folks will find it necessary to evade the law, and border enforcement will become more efficient and effective. Moreover, in a more inclusive system with more realistic “lines,” the potential sanction of “being sent to the end of the line” will have more “bite.”

It’s all about rational priorities and a system more in line with reality and our needs as a nation. That means a system that is not driven by irrational forces like racism and White Nationalism, both of which encourage individuals to act in their overall worst interests, and against the best interests of the larger group, to satisfy some underlying fear or prejudice. 

Many thanks to my good friend and stalwart member of the “Roundtable,” Retired Judge Gustavo D. “Surferboy” Villageliu, for bringing this important item to my attention! May you “catch a big one” that will glide you majestically to shore, my friend!

Hon. Gustavo D. Villageliu
Honorable Gustavo D. Villageliu
Retired U.S. Immigration Judge
American Surfer

PWS

07-23-19

POLITICO: JULIA’S CONGRESS: “THE PRESTON GROUP” OF DIVERSE EXPERTS SOLVES THE “DREAMER ISSUE” WITHOUT A BATHROOM BREAK! — Perhaps They Need To Give Congress & The White House A Demo Of How They “Got To Yes!”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/09/how-to-solve-immigration-experts-daca-216954

Julia writes:

. . . .

Members of the Model Congress: To simulate a real immigration negotiation, we tried to select participants from across the policy spectrum—advocates and operatives, defenders of more immigration and proponents of less. In the end, we ended up with a well-rounded expert group of four:

Theresa Cardinal Brown is director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a research group in Washington. She was an immigration policy adviser at the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2008 and the agency’s attaché in Canada under Obama from 2008 to 2011. Before that, she served as director of immigration and border policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Steven Camarota is director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that seeks less immigration overall and has opposed past measures to legalize undocumented immigrants.

Leon Fresco, an immigration lawyer at Holland and Knight, was previously a staff member for Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he was one of the main drafters of the comprehensive immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013.

Tom Jawetz is vice president for immigration at the Center for American Progress, a progressive policy group. As chief counsel to the immigration subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee and adviser to Democrats, he helped negotiate an immigration reform bill in the House in 2014. It never went to a vote.

I acted as the moderator.

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The makings of a deal: So that’s where our negotiators ended up after two hours: A pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and a 50,000 reduction in visas across several categories that would last for some period of time.

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Find out how they got there by going on over to Politico at the above link and reading Julia’s entire report. Most impressive! Julia’s certainly got my vote for President!

PWS

02-09-18