Immigration: right goal, wrong means

An open letter to President Obama:

Mr. President, we largely agree with you on the immigration issue. But we question the wisdom of taking executive action to implement your preferred policies, while snubbing Congress and the legislative process. We wish you hadn't done it.

Immigration reform is always difficult and unavoidably controversial. There are so many variables. Crafting legislation that is fair to all, while also being economically sensible, is fraught with peril. It requires a balancing act — not a one-sided presidential dictate.

From visas for high-skilled workers, to "green cards" for those agricultural workers, to properly defining refugee status and fairly regulating family reunification, the details of immigration policy require careful consideration. Add the need to "do right" by those who arrived in our country through the established citizenship process and the goal of discouraging future illegal immigration and you can easily see why major reform only occurs every 20 or 30­ years.

We know from our own experience in the 1980s — the last time major reform was enacted — the frustration of waiting and waiting for the congressional process to deliver legislation. Back then, with one legislative chamber controlled by the opposing party, President Ronald Reagan not only wanted, but needed, strong bipartisan support for reform. And though it took time, he got it.

That reform measure was introduced in 1981 and was not passed into law until 1986. But having gone through the process, it then enjoyed broad bipartisan support, with 38 Democrat and 30 Republican senators voting "yes," while roughly 60 percent of House Democrats and nearly 50 percent of House Republicans voted in the affirmative.

That law had its imperfections. But it wisely addressed the three key elements of reform: improved border enforcement (including deportation for those who break our laws), sensible worker provisions and some legal status for those already here (with a path to citizenship under certain circumstances).

In short, we strongly believe a comprehensive reform law would have been possible, if — like Reagan — you had invested in a legislative rather than a unilateral approach.

Your insistence on "going it alone" on immigration strikes us as a "heads I win; tails you lose" proposition. We urge you to see the situation from the perspective of the Congress — whose members, like you, were elected by the American people to do the people's business. From their point of view, your strategy appears disingenuous. First, you will implement (without legislative authority) many of the changes you prefer — and then at some later date you suggest that you will undo those changes — but (and this is a big but) only if Congress delivers to you a bill entirely to your liking.

With all due respect, Mr. President, that does not set the stage for a meaningful compromise that might enlist broad bipartisan congressional support.

Major initiatives like immigration reform, which affect millions of Americans and the economy as a whole, should never be enacted without bipartisan support. It bears remembering that Medicare, civil rights, welfare reform and the last immigration reform law (the one from 1986) all enjoyed significant support from both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. That level of support helped to assure Americans that the policy was both balanced and politically sustainable.

The party-line enactment of your Affordable Care Act, and its ongoing unpopularity, should serve as a cautionary lesson about the pitfalls of pursuing far-reaching goals with no bipartisan support.

Obviously, presidents throughout history have used executive orders for a variety of purposes. And we acknowledge that your use of orders has been less frequent than many of your predecessors. Our concern, however, is with the magnitude of change that you are attempting through this order. You are essentially rewriting immigration law. That sets this proposed action apart from other executive orders.

Again, we largely support the thrust of the reforms you seek. We especially agree that reform is long overdue — as over 11 million undocumented workers continue to live essentially "outside the law." But, Mr. President, you, sadly show disrespect for the American people by insulting the newly elected Republican Congress.

You waited six years for legislative action on this important issue. Why could you not wait for six more months to allow time for this policy to be changed by legislation instead of executive fiat?