Harrop: Draw a thicker line between legal, illegal entry

By Froma Harrop / Creators.com

It’s not hard to understand why Sen. Ruben Gallego voted for the Republican-written Laken Riley Act. The measure would force the federal detention without bail for undocumented migrants accused of any kind of theft. It is named after the Georgia nursing student bludgeoned to death by an undocumented migrant who had previously been apprehended for shoplifting and child endangerment.

A newly elected senator from Arizona, Gallego is a Democrat, a Latino and fairly liberal. But he knows how frustrated most Americans have become about illegal immigration, fellow Latinos included.

That said, critics of the Laken Riley Act do have a somewhat valid point. The bill makes no provision to free those arrested if charges are later dropped or otherwise deemed innocent of the crime.

Problem is, this argument blurs the reality that being in the country illegally already constitutes lawbreaking. There have been efforts in liberal quarters to smudge the line between legal and illegal by giving driver’s licenses to undocumented migrants or stopping local institutions from cooperating with immigration authorities.

And there’s another reality. The undocumented population provides America with hard workers who are otherwise good people. A mindless mass deportation would send entire industries — hospitality, agriculture, construction — into crisis.

Let’s dust off the good old idea of immigration reform that gives legal status to many undocumented migrants who have set down deep roots in this country; but stops illegal immigration in the future. Such legislation had gone far with bipartisan support but was killed by right-wingers opposed to anything resembling amnesty for lawbreakers.

Then there’s Donald Trump. In his first term, he opposed requiring employers to check each new hire with a national database showing who may legally work here. Without holding employers responsible, there is no way to unplug the job magnet that attracts millions to sneak in at great personal risk. One suspects that Trump will drill loopholes into his bombast about mass deportations. His corporate supporters are undoubtedly whispering in his ear.

We must note that 11 other Senate Democrats joined Gallego in voting for Laken Riley. Some may have been moved by a recent gruesome murder on a New York City subway car. An undocumented Guatemalan who had been previously deported set a woman on fire, fanning the flames with a shirt.

The homeless shelter in which he lived obviously wasn’t sharing information with the immigration authorities. Had Immigration and Customs Enforcement been sent a copy of his fingerprints, an innocent subway rider’s life could have been spared.

Opposition to sanctuary city protections for undocumented migrants has been growing in generally progressive cities, Chicago as well as New York. And Latinos are part of it.

“There has been this misunderstanding about where Latinos are when it comes to border and border security,” Gallego told Democrats. “I’m here to bring some more real truth about what people are thinking.” Some senators, he added, are “largely out of touch with where your average Latino is.”

For their own political survival, more Democrats must get on board with proposals they previously denounced as cruel but really aren’t. It’s true that undocumented immigrants commit fewer crimes than the native-born. But as Gallego notes, documented immigrants and their children are increasingly angry at the disorder caused by uncontrolled waves of migrants, especially to their communities. They complain of competition for jobs and housing, and crowding in the schools.

Spare us the line about this being a nation of immigrants. That is true, but this is also a nation of laws. The line between legal entry and the unlawful kind needs to be drawn with a Magic Marker. Shoplifters on the wrong side of that line don’t belong here.