Those on path to legal immigration who use public funds face a roadblock

Author: Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ news and information service.

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I read the article about a new roadblock for immigrants in The Central Minnesota Catholic and wondered if there wasn’t something more productive to do than blame President Trump.
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, hardly a politically biased publication, a public charge is “one that is supported at public expense”. When children live with their parents, don’t help with household expenses and/or depend on them for food, parents usually don’t consider them independent even if they are adults. So why is it so hard to accept immigrants would be a labeled a “public charge” if they depend government programs for food and/or housing.
I’m not saying that immigrants should need to get by without these programs, but as long as the law is what it is, is Trump really the problem? I would argue that the law is the problem.
Congress is charged with passing the laws, and the President has sworn to uphold them. If everyone is so opposed to what Trump is suggesting, why doesn’t a bi-partisan committee introduce a law to overhaul the current immigration laws? If some members of both parties agree an overhaul is needed, why isn’t it being done? It’s all political. It gives politicians an issue to complain about what the other party has/has not done, promise better things if elected, but nothing ever happens until the next election cycle when it’s “the issue” again and the same promises are made.
Immigration should NOT be a political issue–it’s a humanitarian issue. Stop the delays and introduce a bill in both chambers that keeps families together, allows those who are here to stay here and sets a deadline for overhauling the whole immigration system. (Here’s a novel idea, since there is bi-partisan support for these changes, introduce the same bill in both chambers.) Then make the elected officials vote for or against a bill that protects the immigrants, get the President to sign or veto it. Then when the election comes, voters can cast their vote for the one who they feel did the right thing . . . not the one who just said the right thing.
It also seems that the issue is a distraction from other differences that divide the two parties. The immigration issue allows the conservative vote to be divided which just gives the far left the ability to keep pushing their social agenda which now includes not only abortion on demand, but also infanticide when birth control and abortion both fail. As long as there are just two viable candidates, Trump will get my vote regardless of his stand on immigration because it’s easier to change immigration laws than to change the Democrats stated social agenda.
Better yet, find a candidate who supports humanitarian treatment of immigrants, respects all people even if they disagree with their beliefs, accepts traditional values on marriage and gender identity AND does NOT support abortion, infanticide or suicide. Get this person past the political system of nominating a candidate and the American people will be get him/her elected. (Finding a Republican to run on these values would be better than starting a third party which would only serve to divide the conservative vote and return the far left to power.)

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