Most Republicans want to build a wall. Meanwhile, the Left increasingly wants open borders. Just ask Keith Ellison, the Democratic congressman from Minnesota, who posed wearing a shirt that read “I don’t believe in borders.”
Yet, both of these policies are recklessly irresponsible, and neither can stand against the facts about immigration. Luckily, there are a few voices of sanity among the crowd. If South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic presidential candidate from Indiana, meant what he said in a recent tweet, he could be the only candidate so far with a solid stance on immigration issues. His website and platform may remain underdeveloped and vague, but if he sticks to the broad stance he’s taken so far on immigration, he’s on the right track.
We know the outlines to comprehensive immigration reform. A pathway to citizenship, a level of protection for dreamers, a set of reforms to clear up the bureaucracy, and reasonable measures on border security. We know what to do. We don’t have the leadership in D.C to do it. pic.twitter.com/cYLKejmKHF
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 23, 2019
Buttigieg is looking lonely among the Democratic candidates. Whether it’s opposing border security or wanting to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, many candidates are practically arguing for open borders. That sounds great in theory, a world where people freely move around the globe without restrictions. But a completely open border falls short of accomplishing any meaningful progress on immigration policy.
It’s certainly true that some immigration policies, both historic and current, have been cruel and even inhumane. Yet this doesn’t mean it is illegitimate for a nation to protect and control borders. Like it or not, a country is collectively owned by its citizens, who reserve the right to restrict entry to whoever they wish, as they see fit, with both economic and security concerns in mind.
Still, both illegal and legal immigrants contribute more to the economy and commit fewer crimes than native-born citizens. That doesn’t mean we should just open up our borders wide for anyone to enter. It’s still imperative that the United States screens immigrants to prevent the small, yet existing, minority of immigrants who are criminals from entering. We can’t control who is born here, but we can and should control, to a degree, who comes into our country.
That’s not to say Republicans are offering the right solutions, either. Controlling borders doesn’t have to entail building a giant, expensive wall. It’s an unrealistic solution that ignores glaring statistics about illegal immigrant contributions to our society. Illegal immigrants contribute around 2.6% of the GDP annually, and both illegal and legal immigrants are also much less likely to be incarcerated or have any interactions with the criminal justice system at all. While we can’t just have people pouring into the country unchecked, we shouldn’t act like people immigrating here illegally are an “invasion” or anything of the sort.
So, what do we do?
The first step in moderate immigration reform is making the visa process easier. From 2008 to 2015, the percentage of people joining the illegal immigrant population from visa overstays was 65%. This means the majority of illegal immigrants actually cross the border legally. This happens because renewing a visa is often an expensive and complicated process, especially for those that have children born in the U.S. and risk deportation if their visa is denied. If it was easier to renew a visa, this kind of illegal immigration wouldn’t be nearly as common.
It’s not only visa renewal that’s difficult. Republicans often tell immigrants to “wait their turn” to enter the country legally, when in reality the legal immigration process is difficult to navigate and can take years. Even if an immigrant has a job offer, and the employer is willing to sponsor them (a difficult process) if they cannot certify that getting hired won’t displace an American worker, they are not eligible for visa status. There are very few avenues to get a green card legally.
A practical solution would still include a visa vetting process, but immigration quotas, diversity lotteries, and the $500,000 to $1,000,000 investment required to immigrate to America should be removed completely from the process. If we implemented reasonable reform, it would disincentivize illegal immigration by giving innocent people a clear, accessible path to enter the country.
If Buttigieg is the only presidential candidate willing to do so, that might help him in 2020. After all, the electorate is sick of partisan talking points without a real solution.
Jordan Lancaster is a contributor for Young Voices and a senior political science major at Wake Forest University.
