The real obstacle to immigration reform

I was glad to see this ‘middle of the road’ balanced and non-political coverage of immigration reform in USAToday.

“With no major reforms since 1986, our federal immigration laws must be updated. To enhance security, boost the economy, and deal fairly with immigrants seeking to build the American dream. For too long, Washington has avoided the hard work that comes with negotiating and compromising. In the absence of reform, the number of immigrants living outside of our laws has exploded. Our economy has suffered as employers who can’t find willing U.S. workers have been prevented from hiring immigrants, or put themselves and their workers at risk by hiring them illegally. American families have struggled to navigate a complex immigration system that at times seems to make no sense. While these problems won’t be fixed overnight — or in one piece of legislation — it is time to begin to tackle this problem.”

That passage accurately sums up the problem.

The fundamental obstacle to real immigration reform is that apparently one in three Americans is a bigot at their core. This group believes that they have a greater claim to the blessings of jobs, ownership, benefits, etc. based on race,origin or citizenship. In short they believe that our nation’s laws are intended to permit them to be here while excluding others from the same right. This protectionist attitude is an unfortunate outcome of ‘trumpism’, fear and ignorance. My fear, and unfortunately my conclusion, is that is will take more than a decade to stamp out this deep-rooted level of disrepsect and ignorance.

This stinking thinking of same Americans will eventually fall yet I may not live long enough to see it disappear.