Toward a More Just Immigration Reform

A successful nation is one that examines its own history in order to find the solution to its problems. The United States Congress is immersed in an intense debate over the possibility of reforming immigration laws, for the third time in the last seven years. The two key points in the discussion are the possible legalization of 12 million undocumented immigrants and the security of American borders.

The past week was the first anniversary of the Senate’s proposal of a bipartisan bill that could fix a dysfunctional immigration system. However, in the last few months the House of Representatives has continually failed in their attempts to act on said legislation.

President Obama has made clear several times that, to his understanding, the House of Representatives must take other routes in order to achieve a legislative agreement. But the most important point for him and for the large majority of people that live in the United States is that the House takes measures as soon as possible.

Immigration reform is not a political question, but one of humanity and economic convenience. It affects both people and communities. It is a phenomenon that drives the American economy and reunites families.

There is a large consensus of Democrats and Republicans, labor leaders, businessmen and religious leaders, as well as officials charged with pushing the bill towards this primary issue. All of these apparently different groups have united themselves in support of common sense immigration reform.

The United States as a country and the large majority of the 12 million undocumented immigrants both deserve an integral reform of immigration policy. To complete it would signify a recognition of the history and culture of the United States, a country founded by immigrants, including Hispanics that arrived to those lands in the 16th century, many years before the legendary Pilgrims set foot on what is today Plymouth in 1620.

It has been said many times that the contributions that immigrants have given to this North American nation over the years are undeniable. Many have left their lives on the battlefield in defense of the United States. Others participate actively in strategic jobs in science and in technology, in the country or in the city, including in space exploration, as experts or astronauts. The consumption level of the Hispanic community, which counts for of $1.3 billion, is something serious, in that it drives an economy that depends on a high percentage of consumption and services.

Critics of immigration reform emphasize that in 1986 a wide reform was approved, and two and a half decades later there exists in the country twice the number of undocumented immigrants that there were before. The reasoning should be that the United States, two and a half decades later, is a much more prosperous and powerful nation than in 1986, with new immigrants as part of it, although in the midst of a downcast economy that is attempting to rise from the rubble of the economic debacle in 2008.

Politicians must understand their responsibility for an essential point: Political ideologies, political systems, parties and their leaders are not meant to, nor are able to, create sufficient prosperity and liberty for their communities. The principle mission of a politician, to achieve such prosperity, is to reach agreements and understandings. However, in Washington, the hunger strike by activist groups continues, and still the goal of making immigration reform a reality has not been achieved. What is needed is … willpower.