As immigration reform fades away on Capitol Hill after hopes of a bipartisan, House-Senate resolution on the issue before the fall elections, it's worth taking a look back to one year ago when the research-advocacy group known as Third Way presented a tutorial on how centrists and moderates should approach such a polarizing issue.
Third Way, a moderate group with a bit of a tilt to the left, wrote their report in March 2013, when the bipartisan Senate "Gang of Eight" was still hammering out a solution. But, since the Senate passed a bill last year and the House has decided to shelve it, the arguments have not changed much.
Third Way recommended that lawmakers in the middle of the political spectrum stress that adherence to immigration laws would remain at the forefront, with better, smarter enforcement tools, such as e-verify, an electronic workplace verification system that pinpoints undocumented workers, which about 85 percent of the country supports, according to polls.
While the bill passed in the Democrat-controlled Senate has faced an onslaught in the Republican House, many of the criticism focuses on the need to tackle border protection first.
However, the Senate bill, while loaded with new expenditures for border enforcement, is tougher than the last comprehensive immigration bill, a bipartisan 2006 measure that failed despite support from President George W. Bush.
The pending Senate bill blocks a path to citizenship for those who are undocumented
until heightened enforcement measures are in place (such as enhanced
technology and infrastructure on the busy Southwest border and at ports of entry, increased staffing
for the Border Patrol, and the creation of an entry-exit tracking system to catch visa
overstays).
In addition, Third Way advised moderates who know the value of the independent voting bloc to emphasize the vast improvements made to the overall system:
* Since 2005, the budgets of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Custom Enforcement have grown by 85 percent and 87 percent,
respectively.This has translated to more than doubling the number of (pairs of ) boots on the ground and increasing immigration prosecutions
by 43 percent.
* There are now 1,200 more National Guard troops
stationed at the U.S.-Mexican border to
combat smuggling than there were last time we
seriously considered reform eight years ago.
* There are also 120 manned aircraft and six unmanned aircraft systems stationed at the Southwest border (two more than the goal in the 2006
bill), and 651 completed miles
of fencing --only one mile less than the Secure Fence Act of 2006 required.
Beyond border protection, Third Way reminded the middle that reform would help the entire U.S.
economy, not just agricultural producers or border states.
When asked in a 2013 poll what group should get top
priority if Congress decides to grant
more immigration work visas,
as the Senate bill does, Americans’ No. 1 choice was high-skilled workers.
What's more, 71 percent said they would vote for a
law to increase the number of visas for legal immigrants who have advanced
skills in technology and science, including 79 percent of Democrats, 67 percent of Republicans,
and 65 percent of independents.
Retaining within the U.S. economy foreign-born college graduates with talents in science or engineering should be a priority and Americans should be reminded of the long path toward citizenship under the now-dormant Senate legislation.
One last pragmatic requirement that voters in the middle demand is a bill that clearly works -- and "works" means that Congress won't be back in the same potions 10 years from now looking for the newest form of an immigration fix.
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