'Immigration Is Not One Issue'

Building a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico will not solve the complicated immigration problems facing the U.S., said an immigration attorney at a recent Calvin College forum.

“You could build a wall, but would it hurt immigration that much? Probably not,” said Luis Avila, referring to the campaign promise made by Republican Donald Trump to erect a wall to keep out immigrants if he is elected U.S. president in the fall.

“Already one-third of the border is a wall, and two-thirds of the land is a vast desert and tends to be unattractive to cross. About the only thing it would do is hurt foreign relations with Mexico,” said Avila, who works for a law firm in Grand Rapids, Mich..

Avila has also worked at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Switzerland, and on a refugee rights project in Arizona.

“Rather than talking about building a wall, why don’t we talk about how we might address our current visa system. That would be much more meaningful,” said the attorney.

Avila was joined by Douglas Koopman, a Calvin political science professor, at the forum, which was part of a series titled "Challenges for the Next President." The series began in February with a discussion of environmental issues facing the presidential candidates.

Coming up on April 20 will be a look at religious freedom, followed in May by a discussion on restorative justice. Dates are yet to be set for additional forums on foreign policy, human dignity, and the economy.

The program is being sponsored by the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College.

“There is a great deal of tension around the issue of immigration,” said Koopman to the gathering of about 200 people in the lobby of the DeVos Communications Center.

Koopman offered a personal story, recalling how a few years ago he was a member of a CRC congregation that served as a sanctuary church harboring Central American refugees at the same time he worked on Capitol Hill.

As a result, he experienced both sides of the issue.

“You live with the tension of living in the U.S. and defending its policies and also being allowed to be a Christian who defends the stranger among us,” he said.

Instead of being rational events that aim to educate voters, elections tend to play to the emotions and make complex topics sound simple, said Koopman.

“It’s important to realize immigration is not one issue,” said Koopman. “It has to do with such things as family, education, employment, border security, and refugee status.”

Avila said the current discussion among many presidential candidates tends to ignore the realities of the daily lives of immigrants and the challenges they face.

An immigration lawyer with specialties in other areas of law, Avila meets with those who are seeking permission to obtain a visa to stay and work in the U.S. Many have waited long periods before they can even apply.

“The visa system makes it very hard for them,” said Avila. “The current visa system we have is broken and was designed for a much different time. It dates back to the 1970s.”

Both Avila and Koopman said what is needed is comprehensive immigration reform that addresses today’s visa inequities and establishes some kind of way in which people can live legally in the U.S.

Congress was moving in this direction in 2015 when the U.S. Senate passed a package of bills, but that legislation was blocked in the U.S. House of Representatives.

President Obama then stepped in and issued some executive orders, but many of those were stopped by the courts.

Looking ahead, neither Koopman nor Avila was optimistic that a new president could pass necessary immigration reform, so the system will continue to leave some 11 million immigrants in limbo in this country.

Depending on who is elected, different changes could occur. Even so, said Avila, “there is only so much a president can do when it comes to immigration.”

Congress is the entity that must come up with new laws, so unless there is sweeping change in that body come November, things will stay the same.

One way that a new president could bring about some changes would be through federal judges that he or she puts into place, said Koopman.

“I don’t see much of a mandate for immigration reform, but you can look at the judges who would be appointed and who could have an impact on this issue in the future.”