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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
The Immigration Debate “ What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” We lost one of the great iconic American actors this past year. Paul Newman left a legacy of many great movies with some of Hollywood’s most memorable lines. In “Cool Hand Luke,” the indeed very cool Newman, who has escaped from a rural prison, yells out to a renegade warden who has finally cornered him. Luke mocks the warden by parroting the warden’s own prior admonitions to the prisoners: “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” The line seems very appropriate when it comes to our national debate over immigration. Perhaps that’s because we have two fundamental American ideals seemingly in conflict. One, we are a country, which above all else, values that “we are a nation of laws, not of men.” Hence, many citizens are bewildered and upset about our country’s unwillingness and/or inability to enforce our immigration laws. The latest estimates show approximately 12 million persons residing in the United States without proper legal documentation. On the other hand, another fundamental American ideal is that “we are a nation of immigrants.” Indeed, the most famous of American symbols, the Statute of Liberty, pronounces to the world, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses....” The vast majority of current American citizens are immigrants or descendants of immigrants who came to America within the last 150 years. Only native American Indians can claim a different legacy. And no one seriously disputes that America was built on the hard work, spirit, and ingenuity of immigrants inspired by America’s freedoms and opportunities. Our nation seems to thrust the immigration debate to the forefront every few years. Positions harden. Decibels increase. The debate rages. The voices for strict and immediate enforcement of the current immigration laws on one side. The voices for forms of amnesty and/or changes to more open immigration policy on the other. And nothing happens. There is indeed a failure to communicate. The result: we collectively bury our heads in the sand. The debate goes silent - until a few years later. And we repeat. This “Ground Hog Day” debate occurs because there is no easy answer. No one has the corner on the absolute truth. I certainly do not pretend to possess the magic formula that would effectively meld and preserve these seemingly competing ideals in a manner that is both pragmatic and satisfactory to the vast majority of Americans. I do believe, however, that lawyers are problem solvers, who deal with complex issues everyday. We are blessed to have some of the leading immigration law specialists in the country here in Houston. It seems to me that the solution to the debate should involve these problem solvers, these specialists. Any acceptable solution will require the ability to listen and communicate. Our country has solved harder problems, but perhaps none more important and none more at the core of our heritage. In the long run, failure is not an option. We can and must eventually reach an answer that preserves these two sacred ideals. An answer where the ideals are complementary - not competing. This issue of The Houston Lawyer is dedicated to issues of immigration law that touch upon all of us in one way or another. I hope it adds to both pragmatic and aspirational discussion and improved communication.
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