Do They Even Exist?— Pro Immigration Republicans
It is 2016, A first time voting 18 year old boy, decked out from head to toe in his red, white and blue clothing heads to his small town high school to discuss the elections in his AP political science course. The class consists of all 32 graduating seniors, watch the highlights from the final debate between both presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
When he and his classmates hear, “we need 1,000; you have natural barriers. We need 1,000 miles.” They proudly stand and clap for their Republican selected candidate, wearing his bold red tie and blue blazer, referring to a wall seperating Mexico and the United States. He believes that the only way we can “Make America Great Again” is by dealing with the problems we have here in the United States First!
After all, isn’t it more important to take care of the individuals here first? We shouldn’t have to worry about those overseas, right? I know many of them might travel miles with bleeding red blisters, across ice cold seas, duck under the golden-brass casings of bullet shells falling around their feet as a gun is fired — But we need to take care of business here, right?
That 18 year old boy was me. One of my primary voting issues was immigration. How did my mindset go from why should we help them? To seeing immigration as no longer black and white, but instead as a very hazy gray area that test my voting morals today.
For me, it had to do with my stance on life. I know this might be hard to believe, but I am extremely Pro-life (Stay with me on this). However, I sometimes felt I was not consistent on my Pro-life stance:
If I am Pro-life, shouldn’t I be consistent across the board? If I am switching between my rosary beads outside an abortion clinic, shouldn’t I also be carrying bags of food to help those who are alive who need my help?
I am here hoping to show that not all those who fall right of center fail to see the potential to help those whose lives are in danger across our borders. I believe I am not alone in wanted to help these asylum seekers.
Are there or have there been other Republicans like me? Who want to have a simple, common-sense immigration reform? Where we can help asylum seekers by making the immigration process easier?
As polarizing as we may think our political parties are, many non-democratic congressmen and women feel pro-immigration reform is overdue. Former U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice has said, “We are a country that has been tremendously benefited by bringing the people to the US who want to work hard; who believe in the kind of free environment that we have here.”
So, are Pro-immigration Republicans real? Yes, I do believe more Republicans are pro-immigration than some might think. Unfortunately, slippery-slope fallacies have made it harder to have progressive conversations with either side about immigration. Trust me, I cringe when I hear Trump speak on immigrants, foreign destinations or anything outside American norms.
I fully understand that if that is our spokesperson for the Republican party why individuals would assume we are anti-immigration. I believe in legal immigration, refugee and asylum seekers are not only welcomed in the United States of America, but should be invited to a country as great as the United States.
