I have a lot to say on immigration \u2014 but I\u2019m going to do this more piecemeal.\u00a0 The issue is <\/em>complex, even though the \u201csend \u2019em all home\u201d crowd thinks otherwise, and the Gang of 8 and its supporters (including the journalists who inevitably describe the bill as a \u201cdelicate compromise\u201d) seem to think they can fix things all in one fell swoop.<\/p>\n But I\u2019ll start with this:\u00a0 yes, illegal immigrants have broken plenty of laws.\u00a0 They\u2019ve illegally crossed the border or overstayed visas.\u00a0 They\u2019ve committed identity\u00a0theft in obtaining fraudulent documents or have violated dozens of employment laws in working under the counter.\u00a0 They\u2019ve driven without licenses and without insurance.\u00a0 <\/p>\n But at the same time, our government has told them, time and time again, \u201cfine by us.\u201d\u00a0 Despite claims to the contrary, genuine, sustained\u00a0efforts at enforcement are not undertaken at the level needed to eliminate illegal workers.\u00a0 The current administration has openly declared its lack of interest in deportation, and has declared that official government policy is to refuse to enforce the laws.\u00a0 The prior administration was not as blatant about it, but certainly likewise communicated to the world that illegal immigration was not a big deal \u2014 kind of like the 55 mph speed limit, or a rolling stop at a stop sign.<\/p>\n This may not be fair.\u00a0 This may not be just.\u00a0 This may be yet another example of the executive branch overstepping its authority.\u00a0 But it\u2019s where things stand, and millions of people have built lives in the United States based on receiving the message from our elected officials that if you don\u2019t cause any trouble, America is just fine with working with false documents or under the table.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Now, does that mean that they have some kind of acquired right to stay in the United States?\u00a0 Something like adverse possession in real estate law?\u00a0 That\u2019s where I would draw some distinctions \u2014 certainly, I have no moral qualms with sending back a recent arrival whose strongest connections are to Mexico, who doesn\u2019t know English, who sends all his earnings beyond basic living needs back to family in Mexico.\u00a0 Someone who\u2019s been here longer, who\u2019s learned English, who\u2019s integrated into his community \u2014 in this case, I think, by our failure to\u00a0enforce immigration laws\u00a0for so many years, such a person has a moral, if not legal, claim to legalization.\u00a0 Of course, there are plenty of people in the middle, and no bright line \u2014 but my proxy \u201cbright line\u201d would be a simple test:\u00a0 not whether the individual is willing to take an English class in the future, but\u00a0whether the prospective legal immigrant speak English right now, as a demonstration that he\/she has assimilated into our country in such a way that deportation would be a hardship more significant than just the fact that the mere fact of living in Mexico can be considered a hardship compared to the living standards in the United States.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have a lot to say on immigration \u2014 but I\u2019m going to do this more piecemeal.\u00a0 The issue is complex, even though the \u201csend \u2019em all home\u201d crowd thinks otherwise, and the Gang of 8 and its supporters (including the journalists who inevitably describe the bill as a \u201cdelicate compromise\u201d) seem to think they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n