Both Congress and the president have come up with a reform package for immigration. As far as I can tell, the primary difference between the two is the amount of time it would take for illegal immigrants to take to be citizens. In other words, the packages seem to be basically the same. What I do not see is ... a reform package for immigration.
"Reform", you see, is typically used in this manner: "to change and improve something by correcting faults, by removing inconsistencies and abuses." (Please note, just as information on the side, that "the Reformation" did not have this in view. The Reformers were attempting to remove faults and abuses not merely to improve Christendom, but to re-form it in into the original form. Just to correct some confusion. Not the point here.) Anyone can work at filing the proper paperwork, paying the fees, and working toward citizenship. So suggesting a means by which people can file the proper paperwork, pay the fees, and work toward citizenship seems hardly like "reform" let alone "comprehensive reform". Well done, government officials! You've agreed on something ... which turns out to be fairly useless.
When people hear that I'm opposed to killing unborn babies, they say I am "anti-abortion". This is a serious misrepresentation of my view. If you had a method to terminate a pregnancy without terminating a life, I'd have nothing to complain about. On the other hand, while "anti-abortion" folks aren't unhappy with contraception, I'm deeply opposed to abortifacients -- contraception that works by killing babies in the womb. I am pro-life, not anti-abortion.
By the same token, I do not object to immigration. It's a good thing. And the government ought to do more to making it better, safer, easier. Why does it take so long to manage paperwork? Why is it so hard to legally immigrate to this country? That ought to be fixed. I am not anti-immigration or xenophobic (despite the suggestions to the contrary). So what is my concern? My concern is illegal immigration. My concern is people who decide that breaking the law in order to be here is a perfectly suitable, even good thing. Can I tell you a secret? If our government decided not to police our borders, not to require paperwork, not to manage immigration at all -- "Everyone who wants to come in can!" -- I'd have no further complaints about "illegal immigration". Sure, we might have a problem of resources and, given our increasingly socialistic, "I want the government to give me everything I want and I want it now" attitude, I think we might run into problems, but that's a different issue. It's not an immigration issue. You see, I'm not opposed to abortion; I'm opposed to killing babies. I'm not opposed to immigration; I'm opposed to breaking the law to do it.
These, of course, will not come across to the average person. There are so many emotional issues involved that reason will not prevail. I'm "anti-choice" or, worse, "anti-woman". I'm "anti-immigrant" and "anti-Christian" -- "How can you possibly deny access to those poor needy folk and call yourself a Christian?" Laying things out like this may be accurate, but so few today think this stuff through that the reasoning and logic and truth become irrelevant. Even among Christians. Sad, really.
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