Only Mass Deportation Can Save America by Bret Stephens

Great Sunday reading.  From the Opinion pages of the New York Times.  It's interesting to read this piece back-to-back with the one I just posted on the agenda of the radical right. I'll leave it at that.
-Angela 

Only Mass Deportation Can Save America

Immigrants cheering at the start of a naturalization ceremony in Atlanta last fall. 

  Credit David Goldman/Associated Press

by Bret Stephens 

 JUNE 16, 2017

In the matter of immigration, mark this conservative columnist down as strongly pro-deportation. The United States has too many people who don’t work hard, don’t believe in God, don’t contribute much to society and don’t appreciate the greatness of the American system.

They need to return whence they came.

I speak of Americans whose families have been in this country for a few generations. Complacent, entitled and often shockingly ignorant on basic points of American law and history, they are the stagnant pool in which our national prospects risk drowning.

Bret Stephens

On point after point, America’s nonimmigrants are failing our country. Crime? A study by the Cato Institute notes that nonimmigrants are incarcerated at nearly twice the rate of illegal immigrants, and at more than three times the rate of legal ones.

Educational achievement? Just 17 percent of the finalists in the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search — often called the “Junior Nobel Prize” — were the children of United States-born parents. At the Rochester Institute of Technology, just 9.5 percent of graduate students in electrical engineering were nonimmigrants.

Religious piety — especially of the Christian variety? More illegal immigrants identify as Christian (83 percent) than do Americans (70.6 percent), a fact right-wing immigration restrictionists might ponder as they bemoan declines in church attendance.

Business creation? Nonimmigrants start businesses at half the rate of immigrants, and accounted for fewer than half the companies started in Silicon Valley between 1995 and 2005. Overall, the share of nonimmigrant entrepreneurs fell by more than 10 percentage points between 1995 and 2008, according to a Harvard Business Review study.

Nor does the case against nonimmigrants end there. The rate of out-of-wedlock births for United States-born mothers exceeds the rate for foreign-born moms, 42 percent to 33 percent. The rate of delinquency and criminality among nonimmigrant teens considerably exceeds that of their immigrant peers. A recent report by the Sentencing Project also finds evidence that the fewer immigrants there are in a neighborhood, the likelier it is to be unsafe.

And then there’s the all-important issue of demographics. The race for the future is ultimately a race for people — healthy, working-age, fertile people — and our nonimmigrants fail us here, too. “The increase in the overall number of U.S. births, from 3.74 million in 1970 to 4.0 million in 2014, is due entirely to births to foreign-born mothers,” reports the Pew Research Center. Without these immigrant moms, the United States would be faced with the same demographic death spiral that now confronts Japan.

Bottom line: So-called real Americans are screwing up America. Maybe they should leave, so that we can replace them with new and better ones: newcomers who are more appreciative of what the United States has to offer, more ambitious for themselves and their children, and more willing to sacrifice for the future. In other words, just the kind of people we used to be — when “we” had just come off the boat.

O.K., so I’m jesting about deporting “real Americans” en masse. (Who would take them in, anyway?) But then the threat of mass deportations has been no joke with this administration.

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security seemed prepared to extend an Obama administration program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which allows the children of illegal immigrants — some 800,000 people in all — to continue to study and work in the United States. The decision would have reversed one of Donald Trump’s ugly campaign threats to deport these kids, whose only crime was to have been brought to the United States by their parents.

Yet the administration is still committed to deporting their parents, and on Friday the D.H.S. announced that even DACA remains under review — another cruel twist for young immigrants wondering if they’ll be sent back to “home” countries they hardly ever knew, and whose language they might barely even speak.

Beyond the inhumanity of toying with people’s lives this way, there’s also the shortsightedness of it. We do not usually find happiness by driving away those who would love us. Businesses do not often prosper by firing their better employees and discouraging job applications. So how does America become great again by berating and evicting its most energetic, enterprising, law-abiding, job-creating, idea-generating, self-multiplying and God-fearing people?

Because I’m the child of immigrants and grew up abroad, I have always thought of the United States as a country that belongs first to its newcomers — the people who strain hardest to become a part of it because they realize that it’s precious; and who do the most to remake it so that our ideas, and our appeal, may stay fresh.

That used to be a cliché, but in the Age of Trump it needs to be explained all over again. We’re a country of immigrants — by and for them, too. Americans who don’t get it should get out.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter (@BretStephensNYT) and Facebook.
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Protecting all kids in Trump’s America

Here is a cogent statement on our need to be a safe harbor in our nation's schools and cities by none other than Dr. Betty Rosa, Chancellor of New York state’s Board of Regents, who I had the great pleasure of meeting a few years ago:

From whatever lands your family may have emanated, and for all who aspire to the ideals that have made this country so exceptional on this small planet in an immense universe, we welcome you to join our grand experiment in democracy, liberty and compassionate civility. And I hope the new administration in Washington believes that as well.

Our nation awaits a set of policies that will be measured against 240 years of American history. We have arrived at a critical turning point, and the whole world is watching.

 May your kind multiply, Dr. Rosa!

-Angela

Protecting all kids in Trump’s America 

(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

BY Betty Rosa
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Op Ed
Thursday, December 15, 2016

We are living in uncertain times, and a recent incident at the airport brought to light some of my own fears and sensitivities — feelings that I imagine many others are experiencing now more than ever before.

As chancellor of the state’s Board of Regents, which sets education policy in New York, I had arranged for some of my fellow regents to join me on a panel in Puerto Rico. I was appreciative of my colleagues’ participation, as we were all taking time from our day jobs to attend and covered all costs ourselves.

I arrived at JFK with plenty of time to spare for my flight to San Juan, but as I approached the Transportation Security Administration podium I realized that I had left my driver’s license at home. I began to panic. Would I be allowed to board the plane? Would I be publicly embarrassed? Would my colleagues be upset if I couldn’t join them at the conference? Would the state legislators who had asked me to attend be terribly disappointed that I wasn’t there?
For the record, I was born in New York City — at a hospital on Roosevelt Island, when it was known as Welfare Island — but moved to Puerto Rico when I was 5 months old and lived there until I returned to the Bronx as a 10-year-old. So despite being a citizen of the U.S.A. from birth, standing at the TSA podium that afternoon at JFK, I felt insecure and insufficiently documented — and it wasn’t a good feeling.

To my great relief, I was eventually allowed to board the plane since I had previously registered with TSA and had another photo ID that was deemed sufficient.

During the flight, I began to consider why I had reacted so strongly to the situation. I came to understand that I had projected my own, albeit minor, circumstances onto a broader consciousness of what it means to try to live in our country as an undocumented individual.

When, as a child, I restarted my schooling in the Bronx, I spoke very little English. My grasp of the language became academically functional about three years later.

About that same time, I remember reading about how President John F. Kennedy famously declared to tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets of West Berlin, a city divided by a wall, “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’ ”

Never have those words meant more to me than they do today. My experience at the airport helped me to better understand what it may feel like to live in a land that feels like home — but in which one’s presence is not accepted by all.

My colleagues on the Board of Regents and I fight every day to make sure that New York’s students are free to learn regardless of their race, ethnicity, language spoken at home, religion, immigration status, disability, functional ability, sexual orientation or any other basis — in other words, to ensure that the state is an educational sanctuary. We embrace all children as our own, with warmth and compassion.

Since the election, though, we’ve all read about a number of disturbing incidents of hate-based acts in our schools and elsewhere, including vandalism, harassment and even violence. It is well past the time for this to end. And it must begin at the very top, with the President-elect.

Being a proud New Yorker who is cognizant of the fact that New York City has been a gateway during many eras, I am ever-mindful of the words of Emma Lazarus inscribed on the Statue of Liberty welcoming people from all nations to our land of freedom and opportunity.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

Heeding King’s words, I would offer the following to the hardworking, law-abiding, undocumented residents in our country who realize and appreciate the promise of America. To them, I would say:
From whatever lands your family may have emanated, and for all who aspire to the ideals that have made this country so exceptional on this small planet in an immense universe, we welcome you to join our grand experiment in democracy, liberty and compassionate civility. And I hope the new administration in Washington believes that as well.

Our nation awaits a set of policies that will be measured against 240 years of American history. We have arrived at a critical turning point, and the whole world is watching.

Rosa is chancellor of the state’s Board of Regents.

We are very fortunate to have Carlos González Gutiérrez as our new consul general from Mexico here with us in Austin, Texas.  I know him personally.  We could not be more fortunate.  He'll be making some important changes.  This is part of what is at play between our two countries and the very important role that Texas plays in this regard:

"We trade annually about $200 billion, which is twice the amount of [trade between] the U.K. and the U.S. It’s three times what Mexico trades with California, and our prosperity depends on Texas and Texas’ prosperity depends on Mexico. My job is to make sure that awareness of that contribution is widespread. My job is to make sure that people who love Mexico and believe in this relationship contribute their talents and resources to strengthen that relationship."

Bienvenido a Tejas y a Austin/ Welcome to Texas and Austin, Consul General Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez!

Angela Valenzuela

New Consul Takes on Mexico's Texas Diaspora

• by Julián Aguilar
• June 24, 2015

Enlarge Photo by Consulado General de México en Austin

Consul General Carlos González Gutiérrez

California has more Mexican immigrants living within its borders than Texas. But in the Lone Star State, the Mexican community is much more diverse. That's just one takeaway from Mexican Consul Carlos González Gutiérrez. After one month at the helm of Austin's 75-year-old consulate general's office, González, who served most recently as his country's consul in Sacramento, discussed the challenges and benefits of being a Mexican national in the capital city.
The following is an edited and condensed transcript of the interview.
The Texas Tribune: How was the consulate’s office in Austin selected? Is it based on how many Mexican nationals are in a city?
Carlos González Gutiérrez: The consulate of Mexico in Austin has been here since 1940. We have 50 consulates all around the United States; 11 of them are in Texas.
The responsibility of this consulate general, like any other consulate, is to promote and protect the rights of our nationals in our jurisdictions, promote its interests, and to promote the image and the prestige of Mexico. Because we are in the capital city, a particular responsibility of ours is to follow up and monitor and inform our government about public policies that are designed at the Capitol and the governor’s office that will have an impact on Mexicans living in Texas. We also ensure that we are able to transmit to elected and appointed officials our positions in a transparent and clear way.

TT: Do most people that arrive at the consulate have complaints about the way they are treated? Why do most people come here?
CGG: The most basic, and perhaps most important, service we can provide is documentation services. We provide travel documents such as passports or ID documents, like consular IDs. We also provide birth certificates and powers of attorneys so people don’t have to go to Mexico to conduct a commercial operation. I can act as a civil judge abroad, and according to Mexican law I can marry people. Besides that, there is a protection department. Our responsibility is to provide legal protections to Mexicans in dire straits. We help them with advice, make sure they understand their legal situation, and sometimes we are able to provide them legal counsel, or we refer them to trusted sources of legal counsel. We visit prisons, we visit hospitals. Like any other consulate in the world, we have strong immigration advice for people who live here on an irregular migratory status.
TT: Do you ever speak to state officials about state immigration policies, like the debate to eliminate in-state tuition for undocumented students? Do you testify or meet with the governor’s staff or other lawmakers on those issues?
CGG: Yes, on almost a daily basis. I do not testify. I am a diplomat, a representative of a foreign government. Even if I were invited to a hearing, it would not be appropriate for me to testify in front of another sovereignty.
TT: That’s according to Mexican law?
CGG: Yes, it’s our policy.
TT: So you meet behind closed doors with officials?
CGG: What I do is transmit the position of my government on different issues. The U.S.-Mexico relationship, in particular the Texas-Mexico relationship, it’s unique in terms of its intermestic character. “Intermestic” is a concept that tries to define a relationship in which the line that divides the domestic policy and its foreign policy is blurred. There are many areas of policy that are designed and implemented with a domestic policy focus. But nevertheless, they have an impact across the border. So on the one hand, it’s our responsibility at the consulate to let the Mexican government know in Mexico City what the priorities are here. But on the other it’s also in the interest of Texas’ decision makers and, of course, for Mexico to have an active consul in Austin and an active consulate general that is able to transmit with transparency and clarity what are positions are.

TT: How are you chosen for this office?
CGG: I am a member of the Mexican Foreign Service, and I have been for 28 years. I have reached the rank of ambassador, which is the top rank of a diplomatic career. I have been able to focus exclusively on Mexican communities in the United States. This is my vocation. This is the area I have been able to concentrate on in my professional career.
Previously I was the consulate general of Mexico in Sacramento. I was the executive director of the institute for Mexicans abroad in the foreign ministry. I have also had positions in the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the consulate general of Mexico in Los Angeles.
TT: Do you see that from state to state and city to city, the needs and services you provide are the same? Or do you think the Mexicans living here have different needs or concerns than they do in California?
CGG: When you talk about our diaspora, you cannot talk about the one Mexican community. You have to talk about the many Mexican communities in the United States. And that is not truer than in Texas. The diversity, the variety, the complexity of the many Mexican communities that coincide here makes my job very challenging and very fascinating. It goes from the Mexican undocumented worker that had to cross the border surreptitiously to the other extreme of a highly skilled Mexican national that lives in Austin because of the global hunt for talent. And in the middle you can think about many other possibilities and communities. The university also attracts a lot of brilliant Mexican students. It’s completely diverse.
TT: How long is your term here in Austin?
CGG: I serve at the please of the president. We are nominated by the president and then ratified by the Senate. Usually a traditional diplomatic tour of duty lasts between two and five years.
TT: Is that enough time to do what you want to do in Austin?
CGG: It better be. I have to start fast, and the foreign ministry is supporting this consulate very heavily. We are going to be moving to a building that is more appropriate for our needs. We are going to increase our infrastructure in terms of officers that are working at the consulate. Texas is Mexico’s most important partner in the United States. We trade annually about $200 billion, which is twice the amount of [trade between] the U.K. and the U.S. It’s three times what Mexico trades with California, and our prosperity depends on Texas and Texas’ prosperity depends on Mexico. My job is to make sure that awareness of that contribution is widespread. My job is to make sure that people who love Mexico and believe in this relationship contribute their talents and resources to strengthen that relationship.
TT: When President Obama announced the extension of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), this office started offering birth certificates to help people apply for the DAPA initiative. Did you change those policies after the immigration plans were placed on hold by the courts?
CGG: No, we are making sure that people understand that the traditional DACA services (announced in 2012) have not been canceled and that almost half of the population that could benefit from it still has not applied. So we have created new programs, such as a partial reimbursement that we are offering to Mexican nationals who come here and ask for help to apply. The fee is $465; we help them with $150 reimbursement once the process is finished. We are also making sure that people do not fall prey to unscrupulous attorneys or non-attorneys who want to take advantage of the confusion.
The most important challenge that I have is that Mexican nationals understand that we are here to help, that this is a house of services. When your migratory status is irregular ...
TT: How would you define “irregular”? You mean “undocumented”?
CGG: Yes, let’s be more clear. If you are undocumented and living in Texas, you could have been here for two decades as an undocumented immigrant. When you are living your life that way, you have a permanent feeling of vulnerability because you know you can be deported at any moment. So a particular challenge for the consulate is making sure Mexican nationals understand this office is not an authority from which they should keep a distance, but instead an office that is here to help. It’s an office that is staffed by professional, trained people that will help integrate them into U.S. society.
TT: Is this building considered Mexican soil, like an embassy? Can someone come here for protection? Is U.S. law enforcement allowed in here?
CGG: It has diplomatic and consular immunity. It’s not as if it is Mexican territory. If the unthinkable happened, we’d need to call the police. But there are certain procedures and protocols that according to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations have to be followed. They cannot enter without an invitation from the head of the mission.
TT: Are you a member of the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) in Mexico?
CGG: No, I am not a member of any political party. I am a career diplomat and a Foreign Service official. Being a career diplomat allows me to work with whoever is elected president by the people of Mexico.
TT: Do you have an opinion in the recent nomination of Secretary Roberta Jacobson for the United States ambassador to Mexico?
CGG: Yes, I think that it’s one of the top-ranked diplomats that the United States has. Her nomination has been very well received in Mexico, and it shows clearly the top-priority status Mexico has for the president of the United States. And I am sure she will be welcomed with open arms in Mexico.

Why Stopping Deportation Is the Right Thing to Do

 Powerful and important piece on why deportation is so wrong headed.

While DACA and DAPA can't help all families, it is a start for some individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children without proper documentation. They are not criminals. They are not people looking for a handout from the government. They are people who want to work and go to school. They often already work at multiple jobs, care for children and pay taxes. But they do this with a constant threat hanging over their heads that forces them to live unfairly in fear.

-Angela

Posted: 04/09/2015 10:04 am EDT Updated: 04/09/2015 10:59 am EDT

Co-Authored By Sam Adair
 
This week, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hannen denied the Obama administration's request that would have allowed applications for hardworking immigrant parents and young adults to stay in the U.S. This decision represents another frustrating delay on actions that could impact the lives of at least 3.7 million people currently living in the U.S.
The two immigration programs that a coalition of 26 states and and the White House are fighting over are DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parental Accountability). They were created and then expanded by President Obama to help those brought to the U.S. as children without criminal records, as well as undocumented parents of U.S. citizens, stay and work in the U.S.
Three million is a big number, but this issue is really about your friends, colleagues and employees -- those you most likely consider to be the "good guys."
As professionals connected to immigration -- both as an immigration lawyer (Sam) and an early childhood researcher with immigrant families (Jennifer) -- we get calls on a pretty regular basis about friends of friends who are here illegally.
When Sam takes the calls, they almost always go like this:

Caller: Hey you're an immigration lawyer right?
Sam: Yes.
Caller: Listen, I know this guy. He is a really GOOD guy. Super hard worker. He has a family, owns a house and has been here for years. Anyway, he was telling me that he doesn't have the right paperwork to be here. I want to sponsor him for a green card or citizenship or whatever. What do we need to do?
Sam: There is nothing that you can do.
Caller: No, I'll pay for the paperwork and stuff. Just let me know what I need to do.
Sam: There is literally nothing that you can do.
People are incredulous. They think we are unwilling to help out or just being difficult. Often these callers are not particularly pro-immigrant but they can't believe there is nothing that can be done to help the person that they know.

When speaking of immigration, politicians and policy makers often say that those that are here illegally need to go to the back of the line. Those who say this are oversimplifying the situation. There is no single line for immigration. Once someone has come to the U.S. without documentation or overstays their visa status, with very few exceptions, they lose the ability to get in a line for up to 10 years. This issue is further exacerbated by the fact that the wait for someone to come to the U.S. from Mexico when sponsored by a relative can take around 20 years or more. And that is if they have a relative already living in the U.S.
As an attorney, Sam does not usually handle family cases for individuals who come to the U.S. without papers. He represents companies that bring in highly skilled workers from around the world: the best scientists, doctors, athletes and business leaders. Unlike the cases in DAPA and DACA, his clients' cases are straight forward and face little objection because there is a relatively clear path through the process.
Still we usually end up talking to the friend and Sam tries to see if there is anything that can be done. But there is usually nothing to be done, hardly ever a clear path to documentation.
This is why.
Generally, under U.S. immigration law you have to have some sort of tie to the U.S. in order to be able to immigrate. The primary ties that are recognized in the law are either an immediate relative who is a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident or you have to be a highly skilled worker being sponsored by an employer.
There are currently millions of people who live in the U.S. who would qualify for a family-based or even an employment-based application. Yet because they are out of status or came without documentation in the first place (even as a child) they have no means by which they can adjust their status to fix past immigration problems. These are people who have families, who have jobs, who have spent years building lives in the U.S. They are not criminals, nor do they deserve to be forced to depart the U.S. at this point in time.
And many of the "good guys" are mothers and fathers of school-age children. In fact it is estimated, as of 2012, that 6.9 percent of children in the U.S. in K-12 and have one undocumented parent. In Texas, California and Arizona, it is 11 to 13 percent of school-age children.
This is why deportation protection is important.
It is estimated that there are between 3.7 and 5 million people who would benefit from the DAPA and expanded DACA programs. These programs would provide a temporary avenue for adults -- often parents of school-age children -- who are here working and living in fear of deportation.
Both programs require background checks, clear criminal records and an extended presence in the U.S. to qualify. Those who will qualify will likely have been employed long term in the U.S., they will have U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent resident children, and they will have no criminal records.
And yet lots of people are fighting against these families.
In response to the federal judge's decision in Brownsville, Texas, politicians like U.S. Rep Steve King (R-Iowa) and recently announced presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are ecstatic, gloating that this decision blocked a "lawless executive amnesty."
These lawmakers and judges should be accountable for the bad news that your good friend or employee or neighbor cannot stay.
While DACA and DAPA can't help all families, it is a start for some individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children without proper documentation. They are not criminals. They are not people looking for a handout from the government. They are people who want to work and go to school. They often already work at multiple jobs, care for children and pay taxes. But they do this with a constant threat hanging over their heads that forces them to live unfairly in fear.
Sam Adair is an immigration attorney practicing in Austin, Texas representing individuals and companies around the world. Sam serves on the board of directors for the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, and is a founding attorney of the immigration law firm of Graham Adair.

Follow Jennifer Keys Adair on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jkeysadair

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