Honoring Our Nation's Immigrants With More Than Just Words

Op-Ed

HONORING OUR NATION'S IMMIGRANTS WITH MORE THAN JUST WORDS

Several weeks ago, New York City did what many in our country should be doing everyday. Across sevem days and more than 100 events, the Big Apple celebrated the culture and achievements of the countless numbers of immigrants--past and present--who have come to our great country.

They come from numerous continents, and countries, in a variety of hues, each with their own distinct histories, descendants of cultures that pre-date our society sometimes four or five times over. Despite the obstacles, they manage to quickly prove themselves and contribute to their communities in a number of ways. They and their children, their lives now woven into the fabric of this Nation, find success and across a number of fields including academia, business, law, music, sports and politics

Contrary to the hateful and divisive anti-immigration rhetoric that so open poisons our public discussion of the issue, the vast majority of immigrants are not a drain on our government or on our economy. They are in our military, in the reserves and on the battlefront, some even paying the ultimate price for their sacrifice of service. They more than hold their own weight economically by paying, according to the non-partisan Immigration Policy Center (IPC), more than 300 billion in federal, state and local taxes. They fuel our economy as both laborers and employers, locally generating more than 229 billion in New York State alone. That is a figure that represents more than 22 percent of the State's overall GDP, even though they represent a small percentage of the overall population.

I see it every time I walk in my district, every day I am visiting another town or city in our vast land. That their contributions have and continue to positively shape our livesshould not come as a surprise. What should are the ways that we continue to treat them, many of them like second-class citizens.

Congress must lead the way in honoring this country's immigrant history by rewarding their hard efforts and their faith in the American Dream. The fact that it can take up to 20 years for a mother to see her brother or her child of more than 21 years is shameful. It's disrespectful to the generations who laid the foundation for American democracy at home and abroad that you could have more than a quarter million people shut out from voting this November, despite increased fees and promises of improved service. And it's an outrage that those who work hard to provide a stepping stone for their children to succeed can be easily deported because notices to appear in court get lost in the mail or because of a long ago misdemeanor that wouldn't even land a citizen behind bars.

The debate over the millions of undocumented immigrants who reside here should not confuse our support of those that we have agreed to welcome with open arms. If we can't do right by those who follow the current broken system, what expectation should we have that anyone would or should follow a reformed one, no matter how liberal or conservative a plan that is devised?

>Soaring food prices, unattainable affordable housing, stagnant job opportunities, substandard and unaffordable education--these are issues that every family living in this Nation is facing. Whether they have been here for five generations or one, whether they speak one language or two, or whether it was man's cruelty or economic misfortune that forced them here in the first place.

>There are no easy answers or perfect solutions. Yet, if we can remember our past and remember the values that bind us all together, we can overcome these challenges and position this Nation for renewed success. The strength of any nation lies not just in the might of its military, but in the spirit and ingenuity of its people. All of its people.

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