Immigration has been a life-blood of America

Former President Donald Trump’s ongoing insults of immigrants are tiresome.

The reality is, unless you’re Native American, we’re all either immigrants or descended from immigrants in some form of fashion, even those who came over on the Mayflower. Trump, for his part, is married to an immigrant.

The United States is a country built on immigration, though the U.S. hasn’t always been especially welcoming to those from distant lands — Irish, Italians, Chinese, to name a few. When Jews were in peril during the Nazi regime in Germany, the U.S. State Department official for immigration affairs was a massive anti-Semite.

Trump keeps referring to “rapists, murderers and terrorists” poring over the open southern border. No doubt there are some criminals coming into the country, but the vast majority of those entering — primarily Hispanic — are simply people trying to do better for themselves and their families by coming to the greatest country in the world. (No, the United States doesn’t need to be made “great again.” We’re already great — we just need to get better.)

“Newly arrived immigrants are the main reason the U.S. economy has defied pessimistic forecasts,” wrote Jason Furman, a professor of economic policy at Harvard University, in a July 1 piece in The Wall Street Journal, “with 200,000 jobs added a month, real growth in gross domestic product at 3% in the past year, and an inflation rate that has fallen dramatically in the past few years. The biggest factor behind this strong economic performance is immigration.”

The immigration solution doesn’t seem all that difficult, though the execution and the details probably are. It’s a three-point plan — 1) Make it harder to get in illegally; 2) Make it easier to get in legally; 3) Give some sort of status to those who are already here illegally, because this nation shouldn’t deport some 12 million people.

Yes, harden the southern border — one that Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan has called “an open wound.” Why should immigrants be able to wander across our lengthy southern border without being legally admitted to this country? Why have borders if you’re not going to enforce them?

At the same time — let me emphasize that: at the same time — we need to make it easier to immigrate legally. Congress has totally dropped the ball on commonsense adjustments. Republicans in particular say, “We need to stop the influx of illegal immigrants before we can work on revising the rules.”

Nonsense. Politicians can’t multitask? They just don’t want to.

As for those immigrants who are already here “without papers” — you give them a card. Whatever color you think. It says, “You can stay — but you have to pay all taxes, and you can’t vote. If you commit a crime, you will be deported.”

The status adds: “If you want to get in line to become a U.S. citizen, you may do that — but you don’t have to. You may stay and work and raise your children in this country.”

Now, someone will insist, “You’ve just created a second class that lacks appropriate status.”

No, you’re giving people opportunity. So many people here illegally are basically hiding, hoping not to get caught. Bring them out of the woodwork, give them a card, and put them on the tax rolls. If they don’t hold up their end of the bargain — they can’t stay.

Critics seem to forget that we’re talking about actual human beings — and people literally dying every day to get into this country. We have a great country, and immigration has been critical to our success. Yes, play defense on illegal immigration — but stop scapegoating immigrants.

Dirk Allen is a former opinion page editor of the Hamilton (Ohio) Journal-News and a 1977 graduate of Brown University.