President Donald Trump made immigration the centerpiece of the Republican mid-term election campaign as he hammered the issue at every campaign rally he appeared at.
The wave of thousand of Central American migrants slowly making its way toward the United States became a campaign issue whether they intended to or not. Most are women and children and come from Guatemala and Honduras, some seeking safety and all seeking a better life. Most don’t know what awaits them at the end of the journey, but feel it is better than what they are running from.
If they reach the U.S. southern border, estimates are that most will claim asylum as their justification for entry. It is questionable whether such declarations will satisfy border laws, but if they do, we can expect many more thousands to follow their footsteps.
If allowed to enter the U.S. and given asylum status, they will begin their stay in this country relying on a lot of public assistance. Their outcomes are in part determined by whether they arrive in the U.S. as children, as teenagers, or as adults.
The sight of these men, women and children is compelling. Clearly they are enduring hardships, although help is being offered along their travels. Still, their journey is a powerful demonstration of peoples’ determination to enter what they regard as a kind of “promised land.”
This has been going on for decades. Not a made-for-TV event, as some describe this one, but illegal crossings of our borders so frequent that today there are an estimated 12 million people in the United States that are politely called “undocumented immigrants.” Most live in the shadows, always in fear of the law.
The question is: Does America build a wall along its southern borders as President Trump has proposed? What do we do with people who flout our border laws? What can we do with them, when they number in the millions?
For too many in both parties, immigration is a handy campaign tool, useful for getting elected. Finding solutions is far from their minds.
Yet solutions must be found, and sooner rather than later.
The immigrant caravan has to be recognized not as a campaign strategy for the midterm elections but as an object lesson for a larger question that none of the debate over immigration — neither from the Trump camp nor from its critics — has seriously considered: How do we keep these huddled masses from Central and South America from surging toward the hope they see in the United States?
We will not get to that point by making these unfortunate hordes into a political rallying cry, nor by pretending that they present no problem for us. Political leaders who want to solve this epidemic will recognize that while its symptoms must be contained, its cure will not be achieved until we address it at its source.
Hispanics have been a part of our country a long, long time. Many have been major contributors to the nation’s prosperity and well-being. Right here in East Tennessee, they are a valuable addition to the area’s work force. They are valued members of our community.
It’s not a political issue, but an economic issue — one that the next Congress must deal with and without the fanfare of an election.