General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat is our position on border security?
Obviously a wall is just stupid. But what is our policy? Should we track everyone crossing? Should we prevent people from crossing from south America without going through established channels. A big part of all these is obviously bad immigration policy of course.
klook
(12,134 posts)I usually take a look at the Democratic Party platform.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)It is pretty vague in that respect.
Joe941
(2,848 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)It is not entirely clear what the proposed policy related to border security is by reading that paragraph.
BumRushDaShow
(127,330 posts)Fixing our Broken Immigration System
The United States was founded as, and continues to be, a country of immigrants from throughout the world. It is no coincidence that the Statue of Liberty is one of our most profound national symbols. And that is why Democrats believe immigration is not just a problem to be solved, it is a defining aspect of the American character and our shared history.
The Democratic Party supports legal immigration, within reasonable limits, that meets the needs of families, communities, and the economy as well as maintains the United States role as a beacon of hope for people seeking safety, freedom, and security. People should come to the United States with visas and not through smugglers. Yet, we recognize that the current immigration system is broken.
More than 11 million people are living in the shadows, without proper documentation. The immigration bureaucracy is full of backlogs that result in U.S. citizens waiting for decades to be reunited with family members, and green card holders waiting for years to be reunited with their spouses and minor children. The current quota system discriminates against certain immigrants, including immigrants of color, and needs to be reformed to the realities of the 21st century. And there are real questions about our detention and deportation policies that must be addressed.
Democrats believe we need to urgently fix our broken immigration systemwhich tears families apart and keeps workers in the shadowsand create a path to citizenship for law-abiding families who are here, making a better life for their families and contributing to their communities and our country. We should repeal the 3-year, 10-year and permanent bars, which often force persons in mixed status families into the heartbreaking dilemma of either pursuing a green card by leaving the country and their loved ones behind, or remaining in the shadows. We will work with Congress to end the forced and prolonged expulsion from the country that these immigrants endure when trying to adjust their status.
We must fix family backlogs and defend against those who would exclude or eliminate legal immigration avenues and denigrate immigrants. Those immigrants already living in the United States, who are assets to their communities and contribute so much to our country, should be incorporated completely into our society through legal processes that give meaning to our national motto: E Pluribus Unum.
And while we continue to fight for comprehensive immigration reform, we will defend and implement President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans executive actions to help DREAMers, parents of citizens, and lawful permanent residents avoid deportation. We will build on these actions to provide relief for others, such as parents of DREAMers. We will support efforts by states to make DREAMers eligible for drivers licenses and in-state college tuition. We will invest in culturally-appropriate immigrant integration services, expand access to English language education, and promote naturalization to help the millions of people who are eligible for citizenship take that last step.
We believe immigration enforcement must be humane and consistent with our values. We should prioritize those who pose a threat to the safety of our communities, not hardworking families who are contributing to their communities. We will end raids and roundups of children and families, which unnecessarily sow fear in immigrant communities. We disfavor deportations of immigrants who served in our armed forces, and we want to create a faster path for such veterans to citizenship.
We should ensure due process for those fleeing violence in Central America and work with our regional partners to address the root causes of violence. We must take particular care with children, which is why we should guarantee government-funded counsel for unaccompanied children in immigration courts. We should consider all available means of protecting these individuals from the threats to their lives and safetyincluding strengthening in-country and third-country processing, expanding the use of humanitarian parole, and granting Temporary Protected Status.
We will promote best practices among local law enforcement, in terms of how they collaborate with federal authorities, to ensure that they maintain and build trust between local law enforcement and the communities they serve. We will also vigorously oversee any programs put in place, to make sure that there are no abuses and no arbitrary deportation programs. We will establish an affirmative process for workers to report labor violations and to request deferred action. We will work to ensure that all Americansregardless of immigration statushave access to quality health care. That means expanding community health centers, allowing all families to buy into the Affordable Care Act exchanges, supporting states that open up their public health insurance programs to all persons, and finally enacting comprehensive immigration reform. And we will expand opportunities for DREAMers to serve in the military and to then receive expedited pathways to citizenship.
We will fight to end federal, state, and municipal contracts with for-profit private prisons and private detention centers. In order to end family detention, we will ensure humane alternatives for those who pose no public threat. We recognize that there are vulnerable communities within our immigration system who are often seeking refuge from persecution abroad, such as LGBT families, for whom detention can be unacceptably dangerous.
We reject attempts to impose a religious test to bar immigrants or refugees from entering the United States. It is un-American and runs counter to the founding principles of this country.
Finally, Democrats will not stand for the divisive and derogatory language of Donald Trump. His offensive comments about immigrants and other communities have no place in our society. This kind of rhetoric must be rejected.
The world is experiencing a major refugee crisis with more than 60 million people displaced as a result of conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe. We support President Obamas call for an international summit to address this crisis so that every country assumes its responsibility to meet this humanitarian challenge. While Donald Trump proposes banning Muslim refugees, we will look for ways to help innocent people who are fleeing persecution while ensuring rigorous screening and vetting.
<...>
AMERICAS
The Americas are a region of singular strategic, economic, and cultural importance and opportunity for the United States. Democrats reject Donald Trumps proposal to build a wall on our southern border and alienate Mexico, a valuable partner. We will instead embrace our neighbors and pursue strong, fruitful partnerships across the region, from Canada to Latin America and the Caribbean. We will bolster democratic institutions, promote economic opportunity and prosperity, and tackle the rise of drugs, transnational crime, and corruption. We will strengthen the U.S.- Caribbean regional relationship through economic development and comprehensive immigration reform. And we will build on our long-term commitment to Colombia and work with Central American countries to stabilize the Northern Triangle.
In Cuba, we will build on President Obamas historic opening and end the travel ban and embargo. We will also stand by the Cuban people and support their ability to decide their own future and to enjoy the same human rights and freedoms that people everywhere deserve. In Venezuela, we will push the government to respect human rights and respond to the will of its people. And in Haiti, we will support local and international efforts to bolster the countrys democratic institutions and economic development. We will also help more Haitians take advantage of Temporary Protected Status. Finally, we will close the School of the Americas, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, because we believe that military and police forces should support democracy, not subvert it.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)There are some good details related to immigration in general, but not to the border security question, in particular - at least in my reading of it.
BumRushDaShow
(127,330 posts)In order to actually DO "border security", you need to have a Congress willing to have meaningful hearings, where everyone invested in this comes in and contributes to the discussion - literal security experts, immigration policy experts, and immigrant support groups. THEN you can craft and markup legislation to deal with it.
The problem today is that there is this demand for "instant" jingoistic solutions to a "problem" that few can actually define outside of yelling "MS-13!!111!!", "DRUGS!!!11!!", "ILLEGALS!!1111!!".
If you can't define the problem, then you will never be able to have a lasting solution.
For example, Democrats HAVE put forward legislation - like the DREAM ACT, which describes what would be done with one current MAJOR crises - children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants (or brought here as infants/young children by their foreign parents). But people have been so caught up in the media's amplification of the hysterical and hyperbolic rhetoric, that the meat and bones of that legislation has been ignored and the GOP in Congress refuse to pass it (yelling "AMNESTY!!1111!!!" ). The deportation of the parents of these children often means that they try to come back (or sneak back) in to be with them.
The DREAM Act (short for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act) was a bill in Congress that would have granted legal status to certain undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and went to school here. Although several versions of the bill have been introduced in Congress since 2001, it has never passed. In the last few years the term DREAMer has been used to describe young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, who have lived and gone to school here, and who in many cases identify as American. The term DREAMer originally took its name from the bill in Congress, but it has a double meaning about the undocumented youth who have big hopes and dreams for a better future.
https://www.adl.org/education/educator-resources/lesson-plans/what-is-the-dream-act-and-who-are-the-dreamers
And oddly enough, when it literally comes to "border security", one of our BIGGEST unprotected borders are the 2 coasts - Atlantic and Pacific - that are purportedly guarded by an increasingly diminished Coast Guard. Anyone can just roll up on a beach in Oregon and unload. So again, when one talks about "comprehensive", it needs to truly be "comprehensive", not just political cherry-picking a focus on people coming across a border from Mexico (the vast majority of whom are not even Mexicans). We need to relook at the Oliver North period with the nightmare that we helped to cause in Central America which eventually led to the conditions that are causing people to flee.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)I think it would be helpful, though, if there was a more clearly articulated position on this topic from the Democratic Party. I agree with you that any approach should be comprehensive, and truly comprehensive.
Maeve
(42,225 posts)Joe941
(2,848 posts)Say one we can sum up in a few sentences? Im really just looking for the simple answer that's easily communicated.
BumRushDaShow
(127,330 posts)(ETA my 37,000th post )
Joe941
(2,848 posts)BumRushDaShow
(127,330 posts)The United States was founded as, and continues to be, a country of immigrants from throughout the world. It is no coincidence that the Statue of Liberty is one of our most profound national symbols. And that is why Democrats believe immigration is not just a problem to be solved, it is a defining aspect of the American character and our shared history.
https://democrats.org/about/party-platform/#broken-immigration
Immigration reform is not solved by uttering simplistic and jingoistic slogans. In reality, it is a complex issue. Actually carrying out the "meat" of it has been described at the links.
But the bottom line has been that America has been at its best when it brings together a diverse population to solve the most critical issues or discover the incredible potentials of humankind to benefit the nation and world. The "best and the brightest" are not solely the purview of white wealthy Europeans but also exist within the poorest of the poor from the non-white world, who have in the past, and could in the future, equally shine when given the chance.
RandiFan1290
(6,206 posts)MrsCoffee
(5,801 posts)Last edited Sat Dec 22, 2018, 10:59 AM - Edit history (1)
Response to MrsCoffee (Reply #11)
Autumn This message was self-deleted by its author.
edhopper
(33,213 posts)of people from Mexico. Our border is fine and illegal immagration is NOT a problem.
It is another Right Wing dog whistle.
KentuckyWoman
(6,666 posts)My position is there is a flood of refugees from the south for a reason and we need a modern version of Ellis Island on the southern border.
onecaliberal
(32,489 posts)Problem.
Johnny2X2X
(18,745 posts)The reason why people cross illegally and we dont get to screen them is because its a cluster to do so leagally. Reforming immigration laws and practices to make it easy and safe for people to come in would make the border more secure.
Trumps policies make the border less secure. They arent about security, theyre about racism.