I'm happy that President Obama finally has moved forward with immigration reform. But the six-year-long White House Bad Messaging Plague (WHBMP) continues unabated. We're in danger of losing the public on this issue even before the first work permit is issued.
President Obama's executive order removes the loaded guns pointed at the temples of five million human beings, who also happen to be undocumented U.S. immigrants. It is an act of compassion and mercy that has eluded House Speaker John Boehner for years, his utterly hypocritical nattering about the urgent need for immigration reform notwithstanding. If Boehner had ever looked up from his shot glass, he might have seen their sad eyes and felt some urge to confer simple dignity on them.
But that's not how the White House is telling it. Last night, I received the White House talking points, embargoed until 6 pm. (I received them at 6:03 pm, but nevermind.)
● The President will "help secure the border." (This is the first thing -- the very first thing! -- that they said.)
● The President will hold undocumented immigrants "accountable." How is he holding them "accountable" for entering or remaining in America without permission? By letting them stay.
● The President will "fix our broken immigration system." How will he fix it? By not enforcing it.
● The President will "prioritize deporting felons not families." Just as he has deported commas from that phrase, I guess. (Good alliteration, though.)
Please understand: I'm in favor of President Obama's action -- very much so. But this framing just... stinks.
Here is a test for you: Is there anything in these talking points that could not have come out of the Bush White House? Answer: No.
I've seen a poll or two in my life, so I understand that the terms "secure the border," "accountability," "fixing the broken [fill in the blank]" and "families" poll very well. Families, yay! Felons, boo! I'm very happy, and indeed relieved, that we Democrats now have established our bona fides as the anti-felon party.
I noted that the White House's very lengthy (i.e., numbingly repetitive) talking points never mention Boehner or the Republicans -- not even once. Instead, the White House extends its devastating six-year-long attack on "Congress," which has succeeded in: (a) driving Congress's approval rating down to single digits; (b) delivering the House to the Republicans in 2010; and (c) delivering the Senate to the Republicans in 2014. If some Higher Being did a global search and replace on every White House statement since Jan. 20, 2009, searching for "Congress" and replacing it in each instance with "Republicans in Congress," Democrats would have supermajorities right now in both Houses.
Here is the basic problem: Fox News has gotten into their heads. If you think that the primary purpose of immigration reform is "securing the borders," then your name is Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity, not Robert Gibbs, Jay Carney or Josh Earnest.
With all due respect, this is a pitiful effort to put a right-wing mask on a left-wing policy - and a meritorious and virtuous left-wing policy at that. But as Professor George Lakoff has demonstrated, even when you rebut the right wing's arguments, you're inadvertently reinforcing them. (As he puts it, "Don't think of an elephant!" You can't. Once the subject of elephants comes up, you're going to think about elephants, whether you like it or not.)
Look, this is important. The basic rules of existence for five million people are in play. Please, just this once, can't we be progressives? What is so wrong with that?
Let's try it this way: Every one of us draws a ticket in the womb lottery. Six Waltons had winning tickets; they were born billionaires. The victims of fetal alcohol syndrome have losing tickets; they suffer from terrible physical and mental disabilities.
There are seven billion people alive today. Only a quarter of a billion of them won the womb lottery, and they were fortunate enough to be born in the United States. Almost 50 million more worked the system well enough to acquire U.S. citizenship. But there are over 10 million people who love America so much -- so very much -- that they left behind their communities, their families, their property, their jobs, and they came here or remain here without the permission of our government. They didn't win the womb lottery, so it's too late for them to be born here. They feel that they were born in the wrong country. Their passports are not blue. But they want to fix that problem. They want to make it right. They can't be American citizens by birth, but instead, they desperately want to be American citizens by choice.
Isn't that a good thing? That people love what we have created so much that they want to be a part of it, and contribute to it. This isn't a threat, it's a heartfelt compliment.
My mother is an immigrant. My grandparents were immigrants. We are all the sons and daughters of immigrants, and we are all the children of God. Can we please, please respect each other, and live together in peace and dignity?
Think of it this way: for whatever reason -- lax enforcement of immigration laws, oppression in other countries, the need to survive, whatever -- these five million people are our new sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law. The polite thing to do is to welcome them. Repeat after me: "Welcome to the American Family, and thank you for contributing to the American Experience."
Courage,
Rep. Alan Grayson