The United States has long been a beacon of hope for immigrants seeking opportunity and a chance to chase their own American dream. America has always been a welcoming nation to those who embrace freedom and the responsibilities that come with it.
But we also have a responsibility to balance defending our borders, our values and our way of life with welcoming those who wish to join us. Those responsibilities are not mutually exclusive.
It is time to have an honest conversation without fearmongering or name calling, and it is time to separate those who seek solutions from those who benefit from chaos. You see, comprehensive immigration reform is something the Latin Chamber of Commerce has been advocating for years.
I recently had a deep discussion with Gov. Joe Lombardo. He made it clear that he absolutely supports deporting immigrants here illegally who have committed violent crimes on American soil. He supports deporting those here illegally who committed violent crimes prior to coming to America. Who among us would disagree? While we know that it’s not the majority, it is the fundamental responsibility of our government to keep us safe. That includes the small-business community.
Those advocating for open border policies are making a growing problem worse. Those entering our country must be vetted quickly and effectively so that we may expedite the legal immigration process and immediately capture, return or incarcerate violent criminals before they cross our borders.
Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C., must come together to work through important issues involving undocumented immigrants who are already here embracing America and all that comes with it. Decades of a broken immigration system, leaky border and fluctuating policies have created an entire population of people who have been chasing the American dream, following American laws, paying American taxes and working to make our communities stronger, safer and more prosperous. It seems equally unrealistic and unconscionable that those who have embraced our system and our values would be punished for a problem created by politicians unwilling to solve our larger border issues.
America must secure its borders first to protect this nation and its people from those who would do us harm. We must remove any dangerous criminals here illegally. And then we must come together as Americans to fix the broken legal immigration system that has caused so much pain for so many people.
While priority No. 1 must be fixing the border crisis, the “deferred action for childhood arrival” and “temporary protective status” programs cannot be ignored. Presidents of both parties have used these programs to protect long-term immigrants who are living and working in this country. We know that standing up for Dreamers has strong bipartisan support, and the TPS program was created by Congress, supported by both Republicans and Democrats. Acting to extend TPS protections and grant new TPS designations for countries that clearly qualify will keep immigrants from being sent back to extremely dangerous conditions while ensuring they can work and contribute here.
Let’s bring transparency and efficiency to our legal immigration process so we can celebrate the workers, small-business owners and entrepreneurs. In Nevada, there are more than 6,300 TPS holders and 10,500 DACA recipients who pay taxes and strengthen our economy. I speak every day with immigrants who are opening restaurants and stores, working in hospitality and driving critical industries. Our state depends on these people, and without DACA and TPS recipients, Nevada’s economy would suffer.
American exceptionalism is not just an idea, it is the definition of who we are. It is time that exceptionalism is used to solve a border crisis and fix an immigration system that has not worked for a very long time.
Peter Guzman is president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, NV.
