Thread by @FrankSharry

Thread. Okay, so here I am in England, attending to a critically ill older brother, and my phone blows up this morning. Seems the NYT printed an oped by Jerry Kammer of the Center for Immigration Studies, an outfit
designated a hate group by SPLC. tinyurl.com/rp4wjhz1/. 1/

The oped argues pro-immigrant advocates are to blame for the divisiveness of the immigration debate. The author pretends he's mainstream but then reveals himself: "many Americans admire [Trump’s] willingness to wage what they see as a patriotic battle to defend common people.” 2/

In the piece, author Jerry Kammer cites an awards dinner I presided over 19 years ago. He says I “made a pitch” to those assembled. Either Kammer doesn’t have a sense of humor or he is deliberately misrepresenting my comments (my bet is on the latter). 3/

At the event, we awarded John Wilhelm of the UNITE HERE union for bravely fighting for immigration reform that legalizes immigrant workers, and Tom Donahue of the Chamber of Commerce for bravely fighting for a similar if more business-friendly approach to immigration reform. 4/

Since the business and labor folks weren’t comfortable being in the same room, I opened not with “a pitch” but with a joke. It was exaggerated for effect, and it worked! The room exploded in laughter; it cut the tension. Bizarre to see it in the NYT yrs ltr as a policy pitch. 5/

In 2001, we were cultivating labor and business leaders to begin a long-term push for immigration reform that had three components: 1) put undocumented workers on a path to citizenship; 2) legally admit an increase of workers through regulated and limited channels – 6/

with full labor rights, visas, portability and a path to citizenship; and 3) focus targeted enforcement at unscrupulous employers in order to create a level playing field for immigrant workers, native-born workers and decent employers undercut by bad actor competitors. 7/

Having labor and business on board was critical to integrate workers rights, economic growth and a regulated legal immigration system. This led to 4 different attempts to enact immigration reform – in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2013. Each time, we fell just short. 8/

The basis for the approach was new. It was a both/and approach: a regulated and market-sensitive approach to immigration that would lead to more growth, stronger rights and better control, through legalization, expanded legal immigration and enforcement at bad actor employers. 9/

Every time immigration reform came up, Kammer’s group led the opposition. CIS whipped up canards about amnesty, open borders, crime, terrorism and welfare. Founded by white supremacist John Tanton, the group tried very hard to present the facade of a mainstream think tank. 10/

Now, CIS has their men in the White House. Trump cites them regularly. Stephen Miller relies on them daily. But with the underbelly of rank racism and xenophobia exposed, CIS is under growing pressure. They have been exposed, named and shamed as a hate group. 11/

So they send out their token House liberal in a desperate attempt to rebrand the group as mainstream. Kammer even says he’s for the Dream Act and immigration reform - as he collects a paycheck from the group that leads the opposition to the Dream Act and immigration reform. 12/

During this dark time, as Trump and CIS wage a relentlessly cruel war on immigrants and refugees, there is some light. Trump has forced the American people to choose. Support for immigration as a good thing, legal immigration increases and legalization are sky high. 13/

Plus, when Trump mobilized his base in 2018 with racial incitement and xenophobia by invoking caravans and criminals, he also mobilized a majority in opposition to his divisiveness. The House popular vote win for Democrats was by the largest midterm margin in history. 14/

Now, there’s a vigorous debate within the pro-immigrant movement on the best way forward should Democrats re-take the White House. The old idea – that we should work on a bipartisan basis for comprehensive immigration reform has fallen into some disrepute. For good reason. 15/

Far from a both/and approach, we’ve had a massive build of enforcement, and no legalization or liberalization. The idea that the GOP, even after Trump leaves the scene, will work with Democrats to fashion a humane and workable immigration system, is difficult to imagine. 16/

So, most of us are looking for a Democratic president to take bold executive action and, if Dems take both chambers, for Congress to legalize undocumented immigrants - without trade-offs for an enforcement regime already turbocharged well beyond what's reasonable. 17/

Here we are. We who believe immigration is foundational to the American experiment will continue to fight for a regulatory regime fair to all. CIS will push its radical agenda. Kammer will whitewash his hate group in the NYT. And I will go back to attending to my brother. END

Screwed up link to NYT piece. This should work:
nytimes.com/2020/01/16/opi…