LITTLE ROCK — The front page of the Feb. 13 Morning News trumpets an upcoming fight in the Arkansas Legislature.
In this corner is Jonathan Chavez, “a model student with a 3.8 GPA and a beautiful singing voice” ... who is “part of several ministries designed to help low-income families ... the nicest person you’d ever want to meet.”
And in this corner is Rep. Justin Harris, who wants to throw this illegal bum out of the state. Well, that’s not actually what it said, but a casual reader might think that given only 2 column inches out of 33 presented Harris’ side of the argument.
I get it. I realize the negative impact on truly good people like Chavez is an important part in the story of the mess that is illegal immigration. But it’s not the only part; or even the most important.
Here’s what Rep. Harris bill says:
“A person who is not a United States citizen or lawfully present in the United States shall be considered an out-of-state resident for the purposes of tuition at a statesupported institution of higher education.”
That’s it. No call to remove Mr. Chavez from the state, just clarification that benefits of state citizenship are reserved for legal residents of the same. To put it another way, if a student from Tennessee is required to pay out-of-state tuition, then perhaps a studentwho is not legally in the country should also.
Partisans and most media present this only as an either/or proposition. We are either a compassionate nation open to receive all comers, or we must drag them all back across the border. But there are other options for a balanced solution that work in the long term.
Why do so many people want to come to America?
Yes, there’s unparalleled opportunity here; even our poor have more than the majority of people in the world. But how did it get to be that way? It didn’t just happen. We aren’t simply luckier than other nations. It’s the result of a system that recognizes peoples Godgiven freedom to pursue their dreams and have opportunity to change their life circumstances.
Who wouldn’t want that?
Jonathan does.
But we dare not forget the foundational concepts that produced this freedom and opportunity in the first place: One of those is something known as the Rule of Law. It is precisely because we are a nation of laws where justice at least makes the effort to be blind to the individual’s station in life, that people who start with little but the willingness to work hard can dramatically change the course of their lives. It is not so in most countries: if you are born poor that is exactly how you will die and your ability to change that reality is zero.
There are other foundational concepts that contribute to this land of opportunity but none are more important than the idea that all men are equal before the law.
It is a concept that must be defended, and Rep.
Harris legislationseeks to do just that.
Mr. Chavez is inthis uncomfortable predicament for two primary reasons. First, his parents chose to break our laws and remain in this country illegally. That’s certainly not Jonathan’s fault, but that doesn’t shield him from the consequences. The second reason is our federal government has failed to provide a reasonable, efficient process to allow legal immigration while protecting the legitimate interests of the nation.
The Feb. 13 story states immigration officials are currently processing paperwork for applications like Jonathan’s filed in 2003. The reason they are overwhelmed is that failure to enforce our laws and control our borders has produced a virtual flood of cases to process.
I know people trying to legally immigrate: Theprocess is ridiculously long with mindless hoops to jump through. Our federal government failure to effectively address this issue has created our current conundrum. That’s not Mr. Chavez’s fault. But it is not Mr. Harris fault either.
Most Arkansans agree that Jonathan Chavez is exactly the kind of immigrant this country wants and needs. But the foundational issue is not his worthiness, and the people who want to see our laws enforced are neither heartless nor racist.
We are a nation of immigrants and proud of that heritage; America allows more legal immigrants to our shores each year than all other nations of the world combined. But we are also a nation of laws. If we ignore that, the inevitable result will be a nation that Jonathan Chavez wouldn’t want to come to in the first place.
Opinion, Pages 15 on 02/27/2011