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Fix the immigration system

If my husband Richard were alive today, he would be asking the question, “What is it about the word illegal that people don’t understand?”

Richard was a man of principle, law and order. He believed that if there was a law that appeared to be unjust, out of date, or discriminatory in any manner his position would be to challenge the law by legal means toward having it changed. But until the law was changed, he would have obeyed it. That is what we need to do about the problem today with our immigration system.

Fix the system! Make the law fit the needs of today, but until then, enforce it. And that is why we are where we are now — the law governing immigration is not being enforced; the law does not meet the needs of the crisis we are facing today; and compromise has become analogous to a dirty four-letter word that some are merely calling a “wall.”

The argument over a wall along our southern border to stop the illegal immigrants from entering our country is being used to shut down the government. As I write this, there are over 800,000 fellow Americans who are either furloughed or working without being paid.

Everyone knows that our southern border is not adequately secured. There are places where there is no fence, no barrier, insufficient border patrol and no way of determining who or how many people cross every day.

The idea that more illegal drugs come in from secure ports of entry than across the southern border has a hollow basis since there is no statistical way of measuring the number of illegal drugs that come across the southern, and porous, border. This is merely a claim that has been stated as truth as a means to sway or camouflage the facts, and it is preposterous.

So, I ask, how can anyone claim as factual the number of people, drugs, weapons or terrorists who enter our country illegally by crossing the southern border?

Can walls be tunneled under, climbed over, broken down? Absolutely! But is a wall the only means to border security and a way to deal with illegal immigration into this country?

We need border security! We need to fix our immigration laws! Our elected officials need to work together to find a comprehensive and effective way to solve the problem, but acting like children and refusing to compromise is not the answer. Illegal is illegal! Sometimes walls work, I believe fences make for good neighbors, borders and boundaries are borders and boundaries for a reason — you need permission to cross them! That is what those wanting to enter our country must understand, they must enter legally.

So much has been said and written lately regarding border security and the government shutdown recently that one must wonder why the two are even related. Our children, and the children of those coming into the country illegally are suffering. My heart breaks for the families of the children who died, and for those children who are living in tent cities scared and being treated like prisoners. This is wrong on every level and these children, their families, and the children of our government employees don’t deserve to be the pawns in this ideological stand-off; they are being exploited by both political parties. For this travesty to continue over what I believe has become “semantics” is shameful.

If we could simply replace the word “wall” with “border security” would that matter? Border security, as I understand it after reading what some of the leaders, border patrol agents and residents who live and work along the southern border explain it, includes drones, walls, fences, more agents, and varying forms of surveillance. Would the Democrats go along with that idea? Is this something that the president could get on board with? The problem is that both sides have boxed themselves into a corner and neither one is willing to budge. Further, and this may be the more accurate analysis, is that there has been a need for immigration reform for years with no apparent policy or plan in place to deal with this issue — this is the national emergency!

I believe that our immigration problem can be likened to a three-legged stool. The first leg of the stool must be to secure our border. Secondly, we must deal with the immigration policy and law, and finally we must find a way to work with other countries from which the people, drugs, terrorists, and undesirables are fleeing. This is not an easy fix, and it can’t be done effectively overnight, but each of these things need to be addressed by Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, and President Trump. That will require each of them putting on their big boy (big girl in Nancy’s case) pants and putting the country first.

On Fox News Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham said, “I would urge him (President Trump) to open up the government for a short period of time, like three weeks, before he pulls the plug. See if we can get a deal. If we can’t at the end of three weeks, all bets are off. See if he can do it by himself through the emergency powers.” I think Senator Graham might have a good point, we have to at least try.

We need border security which includes walls, fences, drones, electronic surveillance and added border patrol agents. We need a policy and a plan for its implementation. There needs to be compromise between Congress and the White House, and we need to think of those who have been furloughed or who are working without pay (I know they may get paid retroactively, but the refrigerator is empty now.) Regardless of your political affiliation, illegal still means illegal — there is no way of getting around it. But let’s get our government employees back t

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