What to Watch for in Immigration - Week of July 21, 2014

Deporting children.  This story is so depressing, it is difficult to talk about, think about, or write about. Thankfully, others have a better capacity for dealing with ultra-depressing topics.  There is really not much more that can be added to stories recognizing this is a refugee crisis, religious leaders calling for a more compassionate response and reports on our long history of accepting unaccompanied migrant children. While nations do have the right to enforce their borders and the law must be obeyed, it must be remembered that these are children.  If our politicians put half as much effort into addressing the issue as opposed to scoring political points in an election year, this problem would have a solution.  Democrats, Republicans and the President should all be ashamed of themselves.

Immigration is back in the news.  If there is a benefit to the humanitarian crisis on the border, it is that immigration is back in the national discourse.  Whether it be an expose on our upside down immigration system, a discussion of our immigration courts, editorials and polls in Midwestern newspapers, demonstrations held by groups on both sides of the issue throughout the country, or countless other reports and periodicals, the numbers show the importance of immigration as an issue has grown dramatically in recent weeks.  Hopefully, the increased dialogue can lead to a more informed population, and eventually, concrete steps towards repairing our broken immigration system.