Post-Crescent: “Curbing immigration is not the answer”

When I listen to the current calls to greatly curb or even cease some types of immigration, the first thought that comes to mind is that our nation has a very short memory. It hasn’t taken us long to forget the immigrant roots from which most of us come. And the stories of hope for a better quality of life passed down through generations that explain why many of us, native-born U.S. citizens, are here today.

Our collective amnesia also affects our ability to see the tragedy that inevitably results when we ignore humanitarian crises that necessitate large-scale migration, such as the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda and more recently the large number of unaccompanied children migrating from Latin America to escape the violent effects of our lost war on drugs.

Once again our collective anxiety is causing us to look for simple solutions to complex problems. The most simple solution throughout history has been to blame an out-group, or scapegoat. Our current scapegoats appear to be Muslims and immigrants, in particular the most vulnerable among them, refugees.

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