So you want to be an immigration activist? Here are 7 things you need to know.
1. Immigration is a lifeline. It is a way to bring fresh ideas, fresh people, and fresh talent into the United States. A border is a tool to achieve it.
We cannot prosper without immigration.
1. Immigration is a lifeline. It is a way to bring fresh ideas, fresh people, and fresh talent into the United States. A border is a tool to achieve it.
We cannot prosper without immigration.
2. Immigration touches everything.
Education.
Jobs.
Environment.
Families.
Community relations.
Criminal justice.
Education.
Jobs.
Environment.
Families.
Community relations.
Criminal justice.
3. The criminal justice system and the immigration system are intertwined.
And it's a bad marriage that never should have happened. Watch for terms that criminalize.
And it's a bad marriage that never should have happened. Watch for terms that criminalize.
4. Not everybody has a line to wait in, or has the option to do things legally.
Don't clip the wings off a bird and blame it for not flying.
Don't clip the wings off a bird and blame it for not flying.
5. Immigration is hypertechnical. It's a labrynthine system that exalts form over function.
Do not try to make sense of the system.
Do not try to make sense of the system.
6. The anti-immigrant movement:
There is one. It's well-funded and organized. It's in the White House implementing policies thought up decades ago. It's called the #TantonNetwork and you need to know its players.
There is one. It's well-funded and organized. It's in the White House implementing policies thought up decades ago. It's called the #TantonNetwork and you need to know its players.
7. United diversity, not untied disorder.
Diversity is a means, not an end. It's useless to "celebrate diversity" if we're not going to use it to build something greater than the sum of its parts.
Diversity is a means, not an end. It's useless to "celebrate diversity" if we're not going to use it to build something greater than the sum of its parts.
