Support Immigration Reform; It's The Right Thing To Do

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma Lazarus wrote that poem in 1883, for a campaign to raise money to build the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. The statue soon became the quintessential welcoming figure for the many immigrant ships that passed beneath that outstretched hand and torch on their way to Ellis Island and to the promise of America.

Since those days more than a century ago, our country has repeatedly changed its policies on immigration. Sometimes we welcome immigrants. At other times we impose strict restrictions on immigration.

The Senate has now passed a comprehensive bill revising United States laws regarding immigration. In order for the law to change, though, the House of Representatives also must act.

Judaism asserts a strong moral claim to treat all immigrants with dignity and respect. The Torah enjoins us no fewer than 23 times to love the stranger, to treat the stranger fairly, to have one law for ourselves and for the stranger.

There are about 320 million individuals living in America. Of these, perhaps 15 million are Native Americans or the descendants of Native Americans. This means that about 98% of the people in America came here from elsewhere or are descendants of those who did. This means, in short, that we are almost entirely a nation of immigrants.

The present population of America includes nearly 50 million people who were born in another country. Fewer than a third of the foreign-born are what are known as “illegal immigrants.” The rest are mainly naturalized citizens or legal permanent resident aliens.

I don’t like the term “illegal immigrants.”. It suggests that the people themselves are illegal. I prefer the term “undocumented.”

How many undocumented are their? About eleven million.

People speak about the undocumented as though they present a huge problem. In reality, though, they are less than 3.5% of the population.

Who are they and how did they get here?

Most of the undocumented are couples with children. It’s estimated that 40 percent are women. About one third work in service jobs, at places like restaurants, or as janitors or cleaners. Many are also employed in construction and food processing. About 10 percent are in professional positions, for example, working as computer engineers.

The best available estimates say that about half to 60 percent of the undocumented crossed into the U.S. illegally. The rest came here legally, on temporary visas, but did not return home when their visas expired.

Are immigrants good or bad for the American economy and the American worker? On balance, immigrants improve the living standards of Americans. They are not a net drain on the federal budget. They do integrate into the society. Between 90% and 95% of their children speak English well or very well. They start new businesses and file patents at higher rates than U.S.-born citizens.

Immigrants generally do not compete with U.S.-born workers for the same jobs. Instead, many immigrants complement the work of U.S. employees and increase their productivity. For example, low-skill immigrant laborers allow U.S.-born farmers, contractors or craftsmen to expand agricultural production or to build more homes – thereby expanding employment possibilities and incomes for U.S. workers. In addition, businesses adjust to the presence of new immigrants by opening stores, restaurants or production facilities to take advantage of the added supply of workers. More workers translate into more business.

Immigrants also lower prices. Immigrant workers enhance the purchasing power of U.S. workers by lowering the prices of services typically provided by immigrants, such as child care, elder care, gardening, hotel and restaurant work and cleaning services. By making these services more affordable and more widely available, immigrant workers benefit U.S. consumers who purchase these services.

In light of all this, what should we do in order to treat the stranger with compassion and fairness? We should support the legislation recently passed by the Senate. A good summary of the legislation can be found here.

That legislation is widely supported by groups that in the past often fought each other over immigration. Now those groups have worked together to advocate an overhaul of our laws with these four main components:

1. Create a tough but fair path to citizenship for the undocumented, a path that is contingent upon first securing our borders and establishing systems that will track effectively whether legal immigrants have left the country when their visas have expired;
2. Reform our legal immigration system to recognize the importance of characteristics that will help build the American economy and strengthen American families;
3. Create an effective employment verification system that will prevent identity theft and end the hiring of future unauthorized workers; and,
4. Establish an improved process for admitting future workers to serve our nation’s workforce needs, while simultaneously protecting all workers.

What should we do about immigration reform?

·         Urge our Representatives in Congress to support immigration reform by supporting the Senate bill.

·         Ask our friends and relatives who live in other states similarly to ask their Representatives to support this effort.

·         Read our newspapers and pay attention to the broadcast news with special attention to the topic of immigration reform.

·         Take responsibility for making up our minds on this issue.

·         Most of all, care about this issue.

Let’s make the immigration law of these United States a fair and compassionate law.