Lotz: Both Dems right about immigration

Hmmm! What to write about: Women should be punished, we’ll make the wall higher, I won’t take using nukes in Europe off the table and I’d be fine if NATO broke up. The Republican circus continues unabated. Are you embarrassed yet? No. The Clinton-hating also continues, witness several recent letters to the editor publicly criticizing and hyperventilating over my factual Clinton emails column.

But, onward! Both Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have views on a comprehensive immigration plan that are consistent with our country’s long moral tradition of welcoming those from other nations who want to join us. These immigrants see the U.S. as the most wonderful symbol of hope in the world today.

Today’s Hispanic immigrants to America are just like earlier surges of Germans, Italians, Irish, and Vietnamese. They are seeking a better life in a country where they and their families can live healthy and prosperous lives, where their children can feel safe and where they can receive a good education. What they are all ready to do is work hard and live by the rules.

Contrary to what some would have us believe, the facts show that they pay Social Security and other taxes. They support our local economy by their rentals and purchases of food, automobiles, and clothing. Their rate of committing crimes is much lower than the national and local averages. We are a better nation because we are a nation of immigrants.

Both Clinton and Sanders support comprehensive immigration reform. They similarly will not wait for Congress to act, but will defend President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration. Clinton will go even further to keep families together. She has pledged to close private immigrant detention centers and help more eligible people become naturalized.

How are we in the Lowcountry of South Carolina impacted by this current wave of immigration? The Hispanic community is one of the most economically positive contributors in our area. Many immigrants take on jobs at the lower end of the scale, such as restaurant workers, landscapers, construction and resort workers. Without them, the paradise we have here would be difficult to sustain.

The Lowcountry Immigration Coalition has been fighting for comprehensive immigration reform for more than six years and has had success in stopping South Carolina’s anti-immigrant law, SB20, which was upended by the U.S. District Court in Charleston. The coalition has conducted citizenship workshops on Hilton Head and in Bluffton to, among other things, encourage legal Hispanic residents to register and vote in upcoming elections. The coalition has also signed on as a Friend of the Court (amicus brief) to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the Obama administration’s executive orders to extend the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (Dreamers) program and to temporarily protect up to 5 million parents of American children from the threat of deportation. This case will be heard by the court later this month.

Unfortunately, the major Republican candidates, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, are seeking to determine the height of the wall to keep immigrants out and how to round up 11 million undocumented immigrants and send them back to their points of origin. Statistics show that recently more immigrants have departed the U.S. for their former homelands than have arrived.

Both Sanders and Clinton are working to make comprehensive immigration reform a part of our national culture. This is consistent with our tradition of welcoming immigrants who want to share in the American dream. We are fortunate in Beaufort County to have the Lowcountry Immigration Coalition advocating for our Hispanic friends and neighbors.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Lotz: Both Dems right about immigration."