Grassroots/Hank Kalet

Democrats Need to Reclaim Immigration Narrative

Democrats in the House of Representatives approved legislation in June that would pave the way for many unauthorized immigrants currently in limbo to stay in the country and potentially gain citizenship. The bill, the Dream and Promise Act, focuses on the so-called Dreamer contingent of immigrants — those brought to the United States as children without authorization, many of whom have been here since infancy.

According to Politico, an “estimated 2.3 million undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children” would be able to “apply for legal status and eventual citizenship,” if the legislation were to become law. This includes about 673,000 who are currently covered by the so-called DACA program — the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program created by President Barack Obama via executive order, which is now in limbo. President Donald Trump attempted to end the program, but the courts have prevented him from doing so.

The legislation also “would offer legal status to more than 400,000 people covered by Temporary Protected Status, a humanitarian program that allows people to remain in the US and work legally if their home countries suffer a natural disaster, armed conflict, or other extraordinary event,” and “legalize roughly 1,400 Liberian nationals covered by Deferred Enforced Departure.”

While a welcome departure from the egregious trade-offs offered in the past to protect Dreamers — extension of a program of deferred deportation and possible normalization of status in exchange for construction of a border wall and stronger anti-migrant controls — the DPA is more symbolic than pragmatic. The legislation has little chance of even getting a vote in the Senate, let alone passing. And even if, by some miracle, it is approved by the Senate, we can count on the anti-immigrant Donald Trump to veto the bill.

That said, the legislation sets a marker in the debate and, as such, could continue moving the broader discussion in a more humane direction. Americans have been split on the immigration issue, though highly public attacks by the Trump administration — especially the separation of children from their families — has caused anti-immigrant sentiment to soften.

Democrats’ record and rhetoric on the immigration issue have not been particularly good until recently. Obama is known in the immigrant community as the deporter-in-chief because of the sheer number of immigrants his administration sent back to their home countries during his presidency. And while Congressional leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have spoken of the Trump approach as being inhumane, they had until recently been willing to work with the president.

This allowed Trump to set the immigration agenda and frame the debate, which he has done with some truly disturbing policies. In addition to the caging of children, his administration has overseen failures of medical care that have led to deaths of children in custody. Through his former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, he has sought to limit asylum and refugee claims by making it harder for domestic violence survivors and others not fleeing direct, public violence to make claims. He has ramped up the Prevention through Deterrence program, which limits locations where migrants can cross and forces them onto more dangerous terrain, and is charging humanitarian aid workers. Most recently, the Washington Post reported that the administration has canceled classes and recreation programs for unaccompanied minors.

Each of these actions has met with opprobrium, but the cumulative effect of the drip-drip of individual attacks has the effect of creating a broader narrative, especially when Trump keeps banging a rhetorical drum and equating immigrants with gangs and terrorists.

The DPA offers a chance to shift the narrative, even if it is not being pushed far enough for my taste. My preference is for relatively open borders, a welcoming refugee and asylum program, and a concerted effort on our part to address the issues around the globe that are driving migration — American foreign policy that creates instability and leads to civil wars and gang violence, environmental and economic degradation, support for dictators and kleptocrats. I also know that, at this point, my preferences are not quite mainstream and Democrats will make trade offs. The point is, however, to make sure Democrats begin in a humane place and do not make trades that allow a restrictionist agenda to be normalized.

Passage of the Dream and Promise Act is a good first salvo, making clear that the priority must always be humane action.

Hank Kalet is a poet and journalist in New Jersey. Email, hankkalet@gmail.com; blog, hankkalet.tumblr.com; Twitter @kaletjournalism; Instagram, @kaletwrites; Facebook, facebook.com/hank.kalet; Patreon, @newspoet41.

From The Progressive Populist, July 1-15, 2019

Populist.com