Incrementalism at its Worst
When “little by little” goes wrong (a message to voters)
I've noticed a trend in my immigration reporting that's bothersome. I've talked about it before. When I write about the inhumanity of our immigration system and the atrocity that occurs I always get hate from conservatives. That's a given.
But the concern from liberals wanes when Democrats are in power. That's where the real political power is. I feel like if liberals pushed harder when they have the power, we might have seen the type of immigration reform we really need - not this far-right nonsense we're seeing in Florida, Texas, and Kansas.
I'm not trying to bash liberals, but the idea that you've won and then assume that it'll be taken care of is where losing sight of the prize occurs.
I've been watching this country veer to the right since the 80s (when I was old enough to know) and we've gradually been heading further and further in that direction the whole time. It's incrementalism at its worst and it needs to stop.
Every administration implements its own rules and conservatives push the worst of them. Then, they never fully roll them back or reimplement similar measures by a different name.
Look, the Biden administration has done A LOT of good in this department. But it falls short in many areas. In addition, everything he's done could be rolled back by the next president. And that guy could be another Trump.
Watching this admin advocate and implement many similar policies to those dreamed up by wannabe Klansman Stephen Miller under Trump is scary as hell. To see a more conservative than liberal administration test the legality of such policy paves the way for the next fascistic president.
What we need is legislation. There are many bills in Congress right now that could make a big difference and some that will only bear down on the undocumented community even more. It's of the utmost importance to pay attention and talk to your elected officials.
This can be solved if voters kept pushing.
For example, a bill like HR 1511 could provide relief for millions by providing "amnesty" for anyone who's been here more than 7 years along with other requirements like demonstrating good citizenship. There are several others as well. If you follow me, you know of at least three of those that protesters have been pushing for since Florida's anti-immigrant bill passed in May.
As someone who covers this, I will keep trying to bring you the latest on all that's happening but you gotta promise to make some noise too. Don't bash anyone who's trying to do good in government. Instead, ask questions, show them what's on the minds of voters (whatever issue that may be), and give them an idea of what they should be working on.
Immigration should be a more critical issue considering the dire need for an overhaul of the entire system. And if you want to stay informed, there's no better immigration reporter on the hill than
. Today, he's asking questions about this topic and many of the bills. He covers it all. From the green card backlog to the Southern border with a DC policy perspective. I can't think of an immigrant community that doesn't rely on his coverage. If you're not following and supporting Pablo, you should be. Even I learn from his work as do so many other journalists.At the end of the day, we tell the story, you guys gotta do the work.
Arturo is a writer, journalist, and publisher of The Antagonist Magazine and a regular contributor at Latino Rebels and Unicorn Riot. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.