Friday, February 2, 2018
"Americans" Are Citizens. It's the Only Word We Have
by Peggy Sands Orchowski
"And 'dreamers' are Americans" was the headline of the Washington Post's lead editorial on the top of page A18 on February 1. This is misleading on so many levels.
DREAMERS are illegal immigrants who came into the U.S. before age 16 and stayed at least five years. They are not Americans because "American" is the only word we have for a U.S. citizen. Immigrants and certainly illegal immigrants, simply are not citizens.
For the past ten years I have been covering immigration politics and law-making as a credentialed (that mean non-advocacy press) Senior Correspondent in Congress for the Hispanic Outlook magazine. I have written two books about the evolution of immigration politics and laws in the U.S. In the ever-increasing hype over immigration policy today, the necessary distinctions between illegal and legal immigrants, Dreamers and American citizens are being homogenized into one disingenuous package. That makes it even more difficult for partisans in Congress to make the clear headed decisions needed to legislate better immigration laws and their enforcement.
This Washington Post editorial is a good example of this hype. It poses that being an illegal immigrant is equivalent to being a citizen for a number of (arguable) reasons.
For instance, the Post writes that "most of the over 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the country are law abiding". But that is exempting their illegal immigration status, which can be a civil disorder, a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the circumstances. All immigration violations are subject to law enforcement actions, the harshest of which is deportation.
The editorial goes on to say that the majority of illegal immigrants are "overwhelmingly employed".
True, but almost all are employed illegally (temporary legal work permits for some 700,000 DACA recipients will expire beginning March 5). Since 1986, immigration law made it illegal to hire people without work permits. Employers who do so can be fined and even imprisoned.
The Post editorial claims that many illegal immigrants are "long term residents who contribute to their communities in all manner of ways". Certainly true. But that does not make them citizens.
The editorial then argues that "immigration is the cornerstone of the American story and is a common bond among most all U.S. citizens." Again true, but that doesn't mean we must not have national laws to manage immigration and to grant citizenship.
But "Dreamers are Americans" is the most disingenuous claim in the editorial. Since 2010, advocates and much of the media have successfully branded some illegal immigrant millennials 18-30 years old with the sympathetic title "DREAMERS".
President Trump flipped the term by declaring in his first State of the Union on Tuesday Jan. 30 that "All Americans are Dreamers".
Now the Washington Post claims "All Dreamers Are Americans".
Enough!
All Americans dream! All illegal immigrants are not Dreamers. And so-called Dreamers are not Americans. Americans are U.S. citizens. It is the only term we and the world have for it.
Of course any people who have lived in another country for a year or more, immersed in its culture and language can feel "French" or "English" or "Chilean". But they are not. They cannot get a passport in the country they now love. They have to go through the citizenship process set in law first.
In the United States, the first step a citizen of another country must take to become an American citizen is to be granted a green card, a Permanent Legal Resident (PLR) immigration visa. They then must reside in the United States for at least five consecutive years. Only then can the citizenship application process can begin -- if the immigrant chooses to do so. No one is required to become a U.S. citizen. A green card is good for life (unless the holder commits a serious crime) and grants almost all the benefits of citizenship except the right to vote. Most green card holders wait decades to apply for citizenship; most never do so.
Senator Chuck Schumer used to say that "All Americans want and like immigrants; but they don't want illegal immigration". By "Americans" Schumer meant "citizens".
Most Americans will gladly support new laws for qualified immigrants to become citizens, including those who have lived here for decades in the shadow. But most agree that no one is entitled to citizenship;, to be called an American, until they've followed our rule of law. That includes immigration laws and the legal process of citizenship.
It's the American way.
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Peggy (Margaret) Sands Orchowski is a Senior Congressional Correspondent and author of "The Law That Changed The Face of America: The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965" and "Immigration and the American Dream: Battling the Political Hype and Hysteria" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015 and 2008 respectively). She is available for interviews, article assignments and speaking engagements. porchowski@hotmail.com As the Vice President of the Washington DC based Brookings Institution Darrell West wrote in recommending her book: "We can't know where we're going if we don't know where we've been".