Liberal

Potter: Solution to immigration crisis requires bipartisan cooperation

Over the past several years child immigrants have travelled from Central America to the United States seeking safety, shelter and greater opportunities. This has been ongoing, but has received more attention recently because the dramatic increases in the number of immigrants this summer.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam claims that the Obama Administration released 760 illegal immigrants into Tennessee without notifying Haslam’s administration, according to a July 28 Fox News article. The White House Press Secretary justified these actions by saying that the information was not released because of the immigrants right to privacy.

This shocking lapse in communication will likely create problems for both the federal and Tennessee governments in safely and efficiently addressing the influx of immigrants.

In order to logically and efficiently address these newcomers, cooperation by both parties and collaboration between the State and Federal governments are essential.

According to State University of New York Buffalo Law School professor and immigration expert Rick Su, U.S. immigration law in place since World War II prevents the U.S. government from returning these immigrants, or refugees as he puts it, back into danger.



However, it is hotly contested whether or not these child immigrants are considered refugees or illegal aliens.

According to the Transnational Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University’s data, immigration judges in most cases have not ordered the deportation of migrant children, due to the children having legitimate legal grounds to stay in the country.

The legal details of this crisis should be left to the U.S. Immigration Courts to determine; however, the government needs to cooperate in order to resolve the issue. Currently, the resolution of this issue is being slowed by partisanship and faulty communication.

The House of Representatives passed two bills offering a solution that is strikingly partisan and doesn’t propose a bipartisan compromise that could potentially begin to address the problem, according to an Aug. 1 Washington Post article. The bills offer a only portion of the funding that the Obama Administration requested for federal agencies processing the immigrants and would make the deportation of illegal Central American minors a lot easier.

President Barack Obama strongly criticized the GOP, saying that they are not “actually trying to solve the problem,” according to the article.

There is value in strong, passionate opinions on issues and political discourse that offers a diversity of perspectives and solutions. Nevertheless, when this discourse prevents compromise and thus jeopardizes our ability to propose feasible solutions it is unacceptable.  It is long past time for both parties to act in the name of bipartisanship.

If the Congress continues on its recent trend it seems unlikely that this issue will be addressed promptly and effectively.

The reactions of both politicians and Americans to this issue are strong and polarized. The Obama Administration has dubbed it a “humanitarian crisis” and others insist that little sympathy be shown towards the immigrants and that they be deported with little further consideration.

Even in Syracuse, this is a heated issue. According to a July 28 Washington Post article, Mayor Minor has offered aid to immigrant children, but has been met with protests by Syracuse residents.

The child immigration crisis highlights the problems in our political system. This complex, controversial issue cannot be addressed without the government putting aside partisanship and effectively collaborating to resolve the issue.

Rachel Potter is a senior political science and sociology major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at repotter@syr.edu.





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