As we all know, immigration is a very complex and multi-layered issue in the USA.

In this post, I’ll just discuss the extremely polarizing issue of how to address the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing within the borders of the USA. For the complete picture, the number of legal immigrants, i.e., non-citizens holding official and current documentation, is about 37 million. Combined, immigrants account for about 15% of the USA’s total population of 324 million. Fifty (50) years ago, the percentage was 5%.

These statistics alone show that the people of the USA have big hearts for the people of the world and our country and are largely pro-immigration.  While we are a pro-immigration nation today, it doesn’t seem logical or correct to call the USA an immigrant nation, which is the descriptor widely used today by those who argue for more liberal USA immigration policies. Eighty (80) percent of the people who live in the USA today were born in this country and did not personally migrate to this country,  Therefore, they are not officially/statistically counted as an immigrant.  Of course,  somewhere in the 400+ year old family tree of all USA occupants, there is an immigrant, but that is ancestry, not current identity.

Haley Barbour, former Governor of Mississippi, has recently been quoted in our local newspaper as supporting what I consider to be a practical, common-ground immigration solution with which I do agree virtually 100% (and have for the past 15 years).

In the article, it was reported that Haley believes a starting point includes what he calls the givens:

• America needs and is benefited by the labor immigrants provide.
• Many [proportional to the normal curve applied to the human population] immigrants enhance the quality of life in communities.
• Open borders are not a realistic policy for this or any other [sovereign] nation.
• Entering the country illegally is a crime. Criminal acts must be punished. [Makes sense to me since I believe the Rule of Law preserves and protects (1) our cultural/religious values, civil rights, and freedoms; and (2) our ability sustained over time to provide assistance to others around the world].

Barbour then goes on to espouse what I believe to be a common-ground solution to the current illegal immigrant situation in the USA:

• People who have entered the U.S. illegally but have been good citizens, have not committed crimes [other than illegal entry into the USA which is a federal misdemeanor], have paid their taxes, have supported themselves – they ought to be treated just like anybody else who commits a nonviolent crime.
• They should be put on probation and have to pay a fine.
• At the end of that probationary period, if they’ve been good citizens, then they ought to be allowed to get in line to try and get citizenship if they want it.
• There are a lot of immigrants who entered the U.S. legally who are very good for our community and country.

We the people of the USA must move on from US Congressional “paralysis by analysis.” For the past several decades, Congress has been stuck on attempting to pass bipartisan, meaningful, and up-to-date immigration laws. Most of the reasons for this paralysis are related to partisan ideology/politics. The paralysis is also fueled somewhat by fear and fear-mongering on both sides of the political aisle, but mostly it is just basic politics “blocking and tackling.”

Also, we all, especially followers of Christ, lay and clergy, need to stop shaming and claiming moral high ground from people with whom we disagree [reference my Blog Post, Was Jesus a Refugee?], both conservative and liberal, who provide a variety of valid opinions/solutions concerning immigration .

For starters, since we don’t know the true heart of those with whom we disagree, let’s stop the vitriolic name calling that includes examples such as hater, child abuser, and fake Christians who couldn’t possibly love Jesus and immigrants, legal or illegal.

Rather, one helpful national conversation we could have is “how many legal immigrants and refugees can we absorb annually into our American culture and still (1) maintain our USA values, and (2) sustain our ability to help more people, citizens and immigrants-refugees, going forward.

The USA is composed of a very large majority of people, including liberals and conservatives, who are caring and giving people who want to help immigrants succeed and integrate into the USA culture in a peaceful and law-abiding manner.

That is a good thing.