By the time we old geezers walked out of Bert’s Diner Wednesday morning took a consensus to our cars and trucks.
Too many Democrats are still intent on making points instead of winning elections.
Case in point: “Abolish Ice.”
That’s been showing up in ads mostly run by progressive candidates hoping to get through primaries and into the November elections. It has a nice ring to it but – reality check – it’s brain-dead stupid.
We are not going to abolish ICE and we shouldn’t. ICE has existed since just after 9/11 when the Department of Homeland Security was created. Its primary role is to enforce immigration laws and to conduct investigations.
The problem is that under His Highness The Donald it has been turned into a white nationalist good squad operating outside the law. That makes the “abolish ICE” message seem timely.
It’s not. Democrats need to get their act together on immigration. It is a real issue, a real concern and not just in the way Trump and his bozos want to make it an issue. Democrats need to start providing adult leadership and leave the theatrics to Republicans.
Reality: No sovereign nation can exist without borders. Borders exist for a reason – to keep out people who may pose a threat to the stability of the nation. We need secure borders.
What we don’t need is a damned wall the length of the Rio Grande; we don’t need masked thugs gunning down citizens in the streets; we don’t need children separated from parents, put into detention centers that are concentration camps in disguise.
What we need is a revamping of election laws and then sufficient staffing and technology to enforce them as written and in a compassionate fashion.
Democrats should be campaigning on rewriting immigration law in a comprehensive fashion to account for today’s global realities.
Let’s start with asylum. We need to have clear and concise definitions of what constitutes reasons for granting asylum. Right now there is a fog around that. Whatever definition is arrived at, we need to fund the system. Those seeking asylum should be given a thumbs up or thumbs down in speedy fashion, just like accused have a right to a speedy trial if they so choose.
The immigration courts and holding systems can be boosted in both staffing and technology using some of the money already approved for ICE. We can create pathways to citizenship or long-term work programs and staff and fund them accordingly.
We also need to improve security at border checkpoints. Technology exists that can improve that security, but it has not been included in funding. It should be. Donald Trump likes to rant about drugs coming across the border and formal checkpoints are where most of it comes in. It’s not being waded or swum across rivers.
As for the thousands of miles of borders, they can be controlled by technology. We don’t need armies. We don’t need KKK nightriders with badges pinned to their sheets.
As for ICE, let it be a true law enforcement agent and focus on those coming into our country to do real harm. Staff it and budget it accordingly.
If we have ICE focus on the true worst of the worst and we staff the rest of the system – immigration courts, legal staffs, support staffs and other services – we can secure our borders.
Democrats need to quit being afraid of talking tough on border control. Democrats need to be welcoming, to function as global citizens in a global economy. Democrats need to ensure that clear rules for coming and going across our borders, for becoming citizens are created and just as important, that they are communicated clearly to those abroad so they know the rules.
Shouting “abolish ICE” is childish and stupid. Rewriting immigration policy to protect the nation but also to protect those who enter into it, and to treat them with respect, smart and necessary.
That was where a few old men – former Republicans, long-time Democrats and a couple of “don’t give a shit for parties” types ended up this morning after the grease and coffee were all consumed and we went out into the day.