Could Obama have prevented Trump from taking that escalator ride to announce his intention to run for president?
Yes. Obama began his presidency under difficult circumstances, as the nation was just beginning to remove itself from the 2008 financial crisis. But the president had the House and the Senate under Democratic control and, instead of tackling immigration reform, he chose health care.
I know many people believed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was needed. But I ask you now, is our current health care system really better than it was before it passed? Some point to the ability of those with preexisting conditions to get health insurance and, I agree, that was needed. Also needed was a public option for people who could not get health insurance through their employer or for economic reasons. Both of those could have been solved through simply better federal funding to our county health care systems, which are the systems of last resort. And it could have been through a very simple and small across-the-board tax increase. Perhaps even tacked onto to capital gains. ,
In that two-year window during the 111th Congress, only one project could be taken on, and it was health care.
Left behind was immigration, which had been festering for decades since the last comprehensive bill, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, signed by President Ronald Reagan. That bill provided amnesty for any undocumented immigrant from before 1984, and put the onus on employers by making it illegal to hire someone here illegally. Until the 2000s, that law was enforced until the policy changed and there was less incentive to go after employers. The policy was such that illegal immigration was understood to be part of our economic system and too entrenched to do anything about it. Some might even say that Reagan’s bill was a failure since it created an atmosphere of permissiveness and provided no penalty to those here illegally.
As undocumented immigration grew, a large number of them became part of our communities and the idea of removing or penalizing them became absurd to many. They are neighbors, friends, classmates, co-worker and family.
The largest failure of Reagan’s bill was that it provided no plan to address future immigration needs and, as globalization of the workforce took hold, so did some enmity tied to the nation’s dissolving manufacturing base. Some started looking for someone to blame. And then Trump took his ride down the escalator. Three presidential elections later and there has still been no progress toward a practical and common-sense approach to immigration reform, with border policy being essentially nonexistent during the Biden administration. Now we have deportations and protests. Many Americans believe in deporting criminals, but draw the line at workers. Again, these are neighbors, friends, classmates, co-workers and family.
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And now we wonder what we can or should do. First, some need to express themselves in public and in a group. That’s good. But it should never be violent. Second, the focus should be on the midterms and the next presidential election. Someone, somewhere needs to start talking about immigration in a way that makes sense.
Amnesty, then a path to citizenship within five years if immigrants without documentation stay felony free.
New rules for immigration should include categories for worker visas of all kinds — from farmworkers and fast food to programmers — and further check-ins for those coming into this country and fees to cover costs. Sponsor businesses should also pay a fee.
It is currently estimated to cost anywhere between $3,000 to $7,000 to be smuggled across the border. The act itself is incredibly dangerous, deadly even, and simply having the U.S. government charge a similar amount for a legal visa would eliminate that need. It could be for temporary work, have taxes taken out, and workers could return multiple times for five years. That would eliminate the need for excessive money wire fees since their paychecks would be legitimate. And workers could see their families. They could become citizens if they remain felony-free for five years for an additional fee, or from an extra fee taken out of their checks.
Removing everyone here illegally is not a solution but an act of cruelty. So many came here under a policy that said basically it was fine, and most worked hard and started new lives. But they are now considered to be second-class citizens by many liberals who say “we need these people” or a criminal by certain conservatives. Both stances are immoral because it is comes from our own policy failures.
And that includes the failure to act in 2009 when we had the chance.
(12) comments
If I had a choice between health care reform vs immigration reform (which might not be mutually exclusive), I would support the former. Because of Obamacare, millions of Americans now have improved access to life saving care regardless of income level, pre-existing condition, employment status, or place of residence. Leaving health care to local/state agencies would leave millions of Americans' health at the whim of right wing politicians (e.g., those who live in red states) who don't believe that Americans have a right to health care and certainly aren't willing to pay for it.
Yes, we should get things straight on immigration, but I have not found this to have as large an impact on my life. I realize this is not the case with all, however.
https://apnews.com/video/padilla-says-he-was-removed-from-news-conference-for-demanding-answers-about-immigration-enforcement-c4b93bcfdf7142a8b4d85fbbde57b041
https://www.c-span.org/clip/news-conference/senator-padilla-forcibly-removed-from-dhs-secretary-noem-news-conference-in-la/5165432
https://www.c-span.org/program/news-conference/senator-padilla-holds-news-conference/661198
https://apnews.com/article/alex-padilla-noem-immigration-protest-california-f67d220a0254473c53c16aa96f554239
https://apnews.com/article/alex-padilla-noem-immigration-protest-california-f67d220a0254473c53c16aa96f554239
Readers will come to their own conclusions. We already know how some will respond…
are readers supposed to open this
Jon;
I totally respect your right to your opinion. And I agree with about 2/3 of what you wrote, but, I do a few bones to pick with you;
1) Obama has nothing to do with what is going today. Ever Since Reagan was President, there have been plenty of Republican and Democrat Presidents in office who all did nothing about the illegal immigrant problem. So both political parties are at fault, but, for different reasons.
2) The Republicans did not want to stop the flow of cheap and disposable labor for their political donors.
3) The Democrats believe that America is the land of immigrants (which is true). They just hope that when the illegal immigrants become legal, they will vote Democrat. Both parties are guilty of political corruption.
4) During Obama's 8 years as President, the Republicans did make sure that he did not achieve any success. They even said that out loud!
5) During Obama's 8 years, the Democrats only had control of both houses of Congress for 2 years, the other 6 years, the Republicans controlled one or both houses of Congress.
6) Trump got elected by white Republicans simply because of racism. They did not want a black President telling them what to do. Republicans were also prejudice against women too (Hillary Clinton). They did not want a women in charge of the country either. (Think Kamala Harris too)
7) Your suggestion of just increasing funding for health care would not have worked. The Affordable Care Act needed to be codified and passed by Congress and signed by the President to stand up to the many Republican challenges. All if would've taken was Trump to have the Republican Congress decrease federal funding to end the program. Now, even the US Supreme Court can't terminate the Affordable Care Act because in the US Constitution it says that the main task of the government is to "ensure the well being of its citizens".
So, please do not use the typical right wing selective memory and selective history gag, it doesn't work.
Otherwise, I agree with a lot of what you wrote.
Thank you for a very thoughtful column. It's sad but not unexpected that immigration has been such a political football. Democrats errored thinking Hispanics would vote in a block to increase Congressional districts and seats in the House of Represenatives. If Trump just deports criminals he'll be on firm ground but not for deporting families. We definitely need to stop drugs, human trafficking and criminals coming in over our border. My experience has been the most Americans welcome the Spanish culture and people but not the type of uncontrolled border immigration under President Biden.
Ed - "If Trump just deports criminals he'll be on firm ground but not for deporting families" I trust that you realize that some of these families harbor criminals. So, should that prevent such individuals from being arrested and deported. Are you even aware that many of these "families" comprise partners with different parentages? Many of them are now subject to DNA testing to make sure that the minors in those families are blood related. Some comprise the missing 450,000 minors that ended up in those communities. These are all grey areas that our authorities are dealing with, all thanks to Biden and some of his predecessors.
Seems a bit unfair. President Obama hardly stood a chance at getting anything passed right from the beginning due to the majority of Republicans who made it very clear they would not support anything he attempted. Let's not forget Mitch McConnell. You left that part out. In addition, Trump told the Republicans not to support the latest bipartisan border bill in 2024. "Bipartisan" being the important word. The healthcare bill helped some, fell short for others but was a start in the right direction for some sort of healthcare reform. What is happening now, the disgusting policies put forth by Trump and the Republican Party in my opinion cannot be blamed on President Obama.
Wow Jon, lot's of "shoulds, woulda, coulda" there. I think Obama correctly guaged the public mood for a real stab at comprehensive healthcare reform while awaiting in the background was the ever present immigration issue which was torpedoed in the previous Bush administration by none other the the Repubicans themselves. So best to leave that one till later. No one knew the racist depths that would be stirred by having a dark skinned President, so his two years were all that he had to work with. Personally I think my criticism would be in his failure to see the hatred towards him and fight it up front (endangering his life of course) and try to go around the Republican phalanx he was presented with. Who knows if that would even have worked? Either way I think a Bernie Sanders approach concentrating of the malaise affecting the white working class would have proven a far better course than the cultural dancing that he pursued. Just my take of course.
Thanks for a great column today, Mr. Mays. In addition to issues with immigration, I’d add the hollowing out of the middle class due to unfair trade with other countries, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, was another major issue. Had Obama been able to enact a reasonable immigration policy, along with fairer trade, President Trump, as you surmise, may have never run for President.
As for removing everyone here illegally, it might not be possible but the fact that Democrats continue to advocate for violent criminals over that of American citizens is bound to change more minds, to the detriment of those who have been here for a long time, as dragnets may occur more frequently. I’ve heard rumblings that an an informant system should be established where law abiding folks, resident and non-resident, inform ICE as to which folks should be rounded up and deported. These folks can earn “points” and the opportunity to “get in line” on the path to citizenship, similar to a reward system, but not based on cash.
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