The controversy surrounding Arizona's
new border law is unprecedented. From the White House to girls on the
basketball team, we find people voicing their criticism of the legislation.
Many people upset about the law call it "racist" and "xenophobic."
Unfortunately, it seems the real reason for the outcry is a political attempt
to change the tables in the 2010 and 2012 elections.
The real game-changer would occur if the largest minority vote, the Hispanic community, falls uncontested into the hands of the Democratic Party. If the Democrats can ramp up the rhetoric loud enough and long enough, they may very well attract a majority of Hispanic voters for the next two and a half years. If they can keep the controversy going instead of solving the problem, the party will maintain both their Congressional seats and perhaps even the presidency.
This same type of political maneuvering is why so many African-Americans vote religiously for failing Democratic policies. I have repeatedly described the relationship between blacks and the Democratic Party as an adulterous affair. An adulterous lover wants what he wants, when he wants it. But he never gives his mistress true romance and a genuine place in his life. The long-term adulterer is a master at selling a dream while using his mistress. As the Bible says, "there is nothing new under the sun."
Therefore, I am disappointed with those who claim Arizona's law is racist. The president's popularity is declining according recent polls, so the Democratic plan to create a new movement based on the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, is accelerating. It's unfortunate, but current lawmakers are not willing to deal with the four major aspects of the immigration conundrum in the U.S. that include:
- Securing our borders for the protection of the next generation of people who will risk their lives to reach the "promised" land
- Streamline the administrative process at INS. (It can take 7 or more years to successfully run the current gauntlet of regulations)
- Enforce employer regulations and close illegal economic doors
- Deal with current undocumented or illegal residents
Immigration reform requires that we address these four areas. And we must take care in achieving reform, so others like Lián González don't lose their mothers to the rigors of illegal entry into the United States.
In late 1999, Gonzalez's mother drowned while attempting to illegally enter the U.S. She lost her life enroute to the U.S. from Cuba, but her son and boyfriend made it here alive. The INS initially awarded custody of the boy to his father's family in Miami, who wound up fighting Gonzalez's biological father for permanent custody. After a highly-publicized court battle in the U.S., the boy's father was awarded custody, and he returned to Cuba with his son in June 2000.
As a humanitarian, I cannot help but think that sex trafficking, drug dealing, and other criminal activity are empowered by legal and enforcement loopholes we have allowed for too long. In fact, some administrative problems at the INS could easily be thrashed out before the 2010 election. Unfortunately, though, the journey of 1,000 miles will not begin this summer.
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will probably want to have an ideological vote or two on measures that will be used for campaigning purposes. Nonetheless, the substantive problems for the long journey will not be addressed.
I am convinced that the rhetoric of recent days is designed to make conservatives appear racist, while attempting to "force" the nation to support "comprehensive" immigration reform tactics. Pursuing a more studied, systematic approach will only discover the correct answer to our problems.
As the pastor of a church with 22 nationalities located in our nation's capitol, I am aware that this is not simply a Hispanic problem. It is a national problem, and it will affect immigrants around the world.
In early 2009, the administration said "comprehensive" immigration reform would not be touched until the second half of the president's first term. In the meantime, the INS has stepped up surprise raids in Hispanic communities across the country. These raids have been so troubling that many Hispanic religious leaders have come to Washington to lobby Congressmen and Senators.
For some Hispanic clergy, they see a reign of terror in which law-abiding citizens are harassed along with illegal or undocumented people. Perhaps this is why so many groups are rising up in opposition to the Arizona ‘s law, which is clearly legal. In my view the Hispanic community is being manipulated because the folks ordering the raids are the same folks who blame their political opponents for the ongoing problems with immigration. In some ways, liberal leaders are talking out both sides of their mouths and using the most egregious, Machiavellian tactics to create an atmosphere in which political capital can be made from the pain of law-abiding immigrants.
I am not saying that racism does not exist. But I am saying that the democratic and legislative process should not be shut down by name-calling of the worst order! Abuse of undocumented workers in the nation is "the New Slavery of the 21st Century," but we must be very careful not to botch our opportunity to create powerful, positive change. After reading Arizona's new law, I believe the state's motives are genuine.
As a conservative evangelical I want to be proactive. Let's make positive immigration reform today! Let's be victors not victims.
