Luanne Zurlo published commentary in The Stream on balancing compassion, sovereignty, and security in immigration reform. See below.
From: The Stream Date: Feb. 8, 2017Author: Luanne Zurlo
The sobbing face of 8-year old José is seared into my memory. During my visit to a Catholic school classroom in Chalco, a poor community outside Mexico City, the teacher asked José to stand up and talk about his father. His father had embarked upon a trek to enter the U.S. illegally to find work to feed his family. But no one had heard from him for weeks. Was he even alive?
Stories like this one raise broader issues for all of us. To what extent should the U.S. open its doors to the millions of people around the world, like José's father, who seek escape from desperate circumstances?
Immigration and compassion are in America's DNA. Since its foundation, the U.S. has done a great job absorbing mostly documented, legal European immigrants into our Anglo-Protestant culture. Immigration and the openness and fluidity of our markets also have been critical ingredients of our extraordinary economic success.
But today the majority of immigrants come from non-European cultures, many without documentation (and hence, legal status), while some 15% of our population is comprised of immigrants, the highest level in our history. ...
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