Save the Dreamers before tackling immigration reform
By BISHOP NICHOLAS DIMARZIO
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, February 2, 2018
“In his State of the Union speech, President Trump outlined what he called a four-pillar plan to reform the nation’s immigration system, including a path to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented youth.
But tying the fate of these young people, known as Dreamers, to the three other pillars — overhauling or eliminating the family immigration system and the diversity lottery system, and spending billions more on border security, including a wall — is a recipe for getting nothing done, at least in the short term. What Congress must address immediately is the status of the Dreamers, with a promised Senate vote approaching next week ahead of the March 5 deadline for their deportations.
Comprehensive reform takes time. It is unrealistic to believe Congress can come up with bipartisan legislation solving all of the complex and controversial immigration issues facing our nation under such a deadline. Dramatic reforms should be made deliberately, with input from all stakeholders, and not be tied to the immediate fate of a vulnerable population.
For too long, both parties have used the immigration issue for political gain, with Dreamers as their chief victims. The President’s proposal will perpetuate Washington gridlock. Now is the time to change that reality once and for all….”
Read the full op-ed in the New York Daily News
