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https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/opinions/migrant-crisis-immigration-gonzales/index.html

Opinion: The southern border crisis has reached a breaking point
Opinion by Alberto Gonzales
4 minute read
Published 5:26 PM EST, Mon December 4, 2023

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 13: Ecuadorian mother Miriam stands with her
daughter Aylin, 4, as they await volunteer assistance while stuck in a
makeshift camp amongst border walls, between the U.S. and Mexico on May
13, 2023 in San Diego, California. Miriam said they had traveled for 15
days from Ecuador with four other females and had been waiting at the
camp for two days. Some of the migrants at the open-air camp have been
waiting for days in limbo for a chance to plead for asylum while local
volunteer groups are providing food and other necessities. The U.S.
government's Covid-era Title 42 policy, which for the past three years
had allowed for the quick expulsion of irregular migrants entering the
country, expired on the evening of May 11. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty
Images)
A mother from Ecuador stands with her daughter as they await volunteer
assistance while stuck in a makeshift camp amongst border walls, between
the U.S. and Mexico on May 13, 2023 in San Diego, California. They had
traveled for 15 days from Ecuador with four other females and had been
waiting at the camp for two days.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Editor’s Note: Alberto Gonzales was the 80th attorney general of the
United States and counsel to the president in the George W. Bush
administration. He is now the dean and Doyle Rogers Distinguished
Professor of Law at Belmont University College of Law and is on the
advisory board for the Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American Democracy.
The views expressed in this piece are his own. View more opinion on CNN.

CNN
—
There are spots on our southern border that change us, images that force
us to grapple with ourselves. I’ve stood on a bluff and had the
200,000-square-mile Chihuahuan Desert stare back at me, asking why we
stain its sand with the blood of children.

Why do we turn away from the suffering of our brothers and sisters who
journey into the heat and leave their lives and dreams in its canyons?
Why do we tolerate an immigration system that punishes the desperate and
the patient alike — one that is simultaneously incapable of providing
sufficient lawful workers to the US or effective border security?

Alberto Gonzales
Alberto Gonzales
Courtesy Alberto Gonzales
Why do migrants keep crying out: “No, no, I’m staying here. I’m going to
try and get through”? These questions prompt me to think we must come
together as one country and compromise toward a solution that secures
our border and respects the rule of law and the humanity of all people.

Our long-overdue charge is to unify and pass comprehensive immigration
reform and do so now, including Congress accepting reasonable proposals
to enhance border security as part of a larger foreign aid package. This
smaller compromise may lay a strong foundation for a more comprehensive
plan.

Until now, I have drawn my own lines in the sand. For example, I
discounted ideas like building a long, expensive border wall and
deploying our military. I believed a wall sent the wrong message to our
neighbors and was a waste of money. I feared our military, trained to
kill an enemy, would do just that to unarmed migrant families mistaken
for criminals, terrorists or cartel members. In the past, I cut off
discussions on such measures and blocked opportunities for compromise —
preferring more border agents and technology like cameras and motion
sensors.

Today, however, we are in crisis, exacerbated by legislative stalemate
which neither heeds the cries of migrants fleeing violence nor voters’
desires for reasonable limitations on entry. Our communities are
overwhelmed with migrants and their needs, especially as states near the
border continue to bus new arrivals north.

The ideas we’ve considered have yet to coalesce into solutions. So, I
have challenged myself to be open to other possibilities — at least
during this crisis. As former Sen. Howard Baker said: “The other guy
might be right,” and until now, the uncompromising ideological positions
of both political parties have proved wrong. Americans agree.

In a recent poll by the Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American
Democracy, 80% of respondents expressed support for legislative
compromise even when including challenging real-life scenarios.

Article I of our Constitution gives Congress, not the President, the
power to establish a “uniform Rule of Naturalization,” i.e., immigration
policy. In normal circumstances, the President is limited by the
immigration tools Congress bestows in the form of legislation.

Today, however, the situation at the border has reached a breaking
point. We must gain control.

WASHINGTON - MAY 16: Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., questions bank executives
during the Senate Banking Housing and Urabn Affairs Committee hearing on
"Examining the Failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank" in
Washington on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
Senators struggle to find middle ground on immigration policy changes
key to passing Ukraine-Israel aid
What I have concluded is that the President may have to rely on his
constitutional emergency powers to implement temporary measures, such as
constructing physical barriers at strategic locations and using our
military in a support role under limited circumstances and
well-understood rules of engagement.

During this crisis, the US should consider limiting the number of grants
for asylum-seekers and temporarily suspending new applicants for lawful
status to get our house in order and regain command of our borders. We
must identify and remove immediately anyone who is a threat.

After control is regained, our country can return its attention to a
more comprehensive immigration plan consistent with our values — one
that is fair to those immigrants who followed the rules waiting
patiently outside our borders, one that promotes economic growth, one
that neither rewards nor incarcerates those who entered the country
without necessary paperwork, and one that protects US citizens and property.

Nonetheless, it’s important to reiterate that comprehensive immigration
policy reform is necessary and the ultimate goal.

The President must lead, and Congress must legislate and appropriate.
Every day that we wait, more people die in that desert, crops go fallow
without workers, supply chains are delayed and the entrepreneurial
spirit of this country, fueled — ironically — by immigrants, is dulled.

Cities across America no longer have the currency or capacity to pay the
costs of Congress’ pride and stubbornness. As CNN has reported, record
numbers of migrants are crossing into the US, overwhelming cities like
New York and Chicago.

It has been the constitutional duty of every lawmaker of this millennium
to find a solution, and we have failed. We must be humble and put our
ideologies aside — and protect our citizens, the rule of law and the
immigrants seeking a better life for their families.

And as citizens, we must extend grace to our lawmakers, so they feel
confident doing what they know is right, and compromising without fear
of reprisal.

Immigration policy affects our economy, our national security and our
foreign policy, as well as relationships with family and friends. It
influences the very essence of who we are as a country.

When not properly implemented, such policy threatens our peace and
stability.
Once we embrace a long-term comprehensive framework, we will be stronger
and safer in an increasingly dangerous world — unified and better able
to take on the challenges ahead, together.

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S

a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:5nNbN.52580$Jbsd.27910@fx03.iad:

> from
> https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/opinions/migrant-crisis-immigration-gonz
> ales/index.html
>
> Opinion: The southern border crisis has reached a breaking point
> Opinion by Alberto Gonzales

So why are Rethuglicans voting against funding the Border patrol and
operations?

On 12/5/23 18:35, Baxter wrote:
> a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> wrote in
> news:5nNbN.52580$Jbsd.27910@fx03.iad:
>
>> from
>> https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/opinions/migrant-crisis-immigration-gonz
>> ales/index.html
>>
>> Opinion: The southern border crisis has reached a breaking point
>> Opinion by Alberto Gonzales
>
> So why are Rethuglicans voting against funding the Border patrol and
> operations?

If the rule is you have to accept and eat the entire plate,
or reject it,
would you eat a plate of steak with a side dish of rat poison,
or reject it?

a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> wrote in news:BN2cN.73473$yAie.7904
@fx44.iad:

> On 12/5/23 18:35, Baxter wrote:
>> a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> wrote in
>> news:5nNbN.52580$Jbsd.27910@fx03.iad:
>>
>>> from
>>> https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/opinions/migrant-crisis-immigration-
gonz
>>> ales/index.html
>>>
>>> Opinion: The southern border crisis has reached a breaking point
>>> Opinion by Alberto Gonzales
>>
>> So why are Rethuglicans voting against funding the Border patrol and
>> operations?
>
> If the rule is you have to accept and eat the entire plate,
> or reject it,
> would you eat a plate of steak with a side dish of rat poison,
> or reject it?
>
>

It's not "a plate of steak with a side dish of rat poison" - and politics
is all about compromise. But you can't scream about "open borders" and
then vote against funding for Border Patrol and Enforcement.

I would note that Rethuglicans are quick to take credit for policies that
they vote against.

And again - the "open borders" screaming is that conservaturds don't want
ANY immigration AT ALL. ZERO NADA.