Shameful to Use Terrorism to Stop Immigration Reform

By Raul A. Reyes, NBCLatino

While millions of Americans were riveted by the manhunt for the Boston bombing suspects, some lawmakers and commentators were demanding that Congress reconsider immigration reform. “Given the events of this week,” said Senator Charles Grassley (R-IO) in a statement, “it’s important for us to understand the gaps and loopholes in our immigration system.”  Radio host Bryan Fischer tweeted, “Time to tighten, not loosen, immigration policy.”

These conservatives are misguided.  Terrorist acts should not jeopardize the proposed immigration overhaul.  It is divisive and shameful to use Boston’s tragedy as an excuse to derail reform.  The Senate plan will strengthen national security and make our country safer.

Immigration reform has been in the works for too long for lawmakers to give up now.  On Friday, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) told reporters that we should not base immigration policy on random events.  ”If we change the policies of this country every time something happens, Oklahoma City, 9/11, this, we’re never going to do anything,” he said. “We should think what are the best policies for the United States and use those.”  He’s right.  Now that the “Gang of 8” have arrived at a consensus, we should proceed thoughtfully and carefully.  Consider that after 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security was quickly formed and the government increased border security and deportations.  Meanwhile, the broader problem of what to do with our undocumented population was ignored.

Tamerlin and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the young men allegedly responsible for the bombings, entered the U.S. legally in 2003.  The New York Times reports that Dzhokhar received his green card in 2007, and became a citizen in 2012.  As horrific as their crimes may be, it is inaccurate to link them to illegal immigration.  And no amount of screening would have prevented their destructive acts; both brothers arrived here as children.

Congressman Steve King (R-IO) told the National Review Online that the attacks should postpone reform, cautioning that “we need to be ever vigilant.”  However, King has never supported immigration reform.  The man who once compared immigrants to dogs and called illegal immigration a “slow-motion holocaust” is attempting to exploit the bombings for political gain.  This is as unconscionable as it is transparent.

Besides, the Senate immigration proposal contains provisions that will make our country more secure than ever.  It allots $6.5 billion for additional border fencing and enforcement measures.  It would require all employers to use E-Verify to ensure that employees are eligible to work legally in the U.S.  It creates a database for tracking visa entries and exits.  Without immigration reform, none of these measures will be enacted and we will be stuck with our current dysfunctional immigration system.

Still, radio host Laura Ingraham believes that we should rethink reform.  “It’s interesting that at this moment, we are considering legalizing or giving regularized  status to millions of people,” she said. “Pretty much none of them have gone through any rigorous background checks.”  But the Senate bill includes a requirement that undocumented immigrants seeking to adjust their status undergo background checks.  These proposed background checks are popular even among the undocumented.  Latino Decisions reports that 93 percent of undocumented Hispanics would support background checks as a prerequisite for legalization.

True, homegrown terrorism is frightening.  Yet we cannot allow fear to cloud our better judgment.  Although the Tsarnaev brothers were Muslim, they have not been connected to any larger terror network.  If we are going to single out the acts of immigrants, we should remember Carlos Arredando.  An immigrant from Costa Rica, he lost his son in Iraq and was a hero of the Boston attacks.

Now is the time to come together, not to scapegoat immigrants.  Comprehensive reform must not be another casualty of the Boston bombings.

This article was first pubished in NBCLatino.

Raul A. Reyes is an attorney and member of the USA Today Board of Contributors.