October 13, 2017

Photo by Harrie van Veen (CC BY 2.0)

On Sunday, the White House released a list of anti-American immigration principles that includes not offering citizenship, to almost 800,000 undocumented immigrant youth. The principles use Dreamers as bargaining chips to hold Congress hostage to acquiescing to the construction of a wall along the United States border with Mexico, and large cutbacks on both family immigration and asylum acceptance totals, and cracking down on sanctuary cities.

This list is a continuation of the xenophobic, nativist policies that President Trump has been advocating for since taking office, and it’s nothing more than an attempt to kill any hope that Congress will be able to pass legislation to protect DREAMers by the March 5 deadline. By setting these hard-line requirements before considering a legislative solution, the White House is shutting down any bipartisan path to citizenship for DREAMers.

Furthermore, the White House continues to peddle myths about sanctuary cities. Sanctuary cities are often the safest cities and have some of the lowest crime rates in the country. Studies regularly show that immigrants are some of the most contributing members of society.

Both our American and Islamic values urge us to be hospitable, welcome the stranger, and aid those in need with human dignity. This Administration needs to stop seeing immigrant as security threats, and instead individuals who want to be part of the American dream. Congress must act quickly to pass a clean DREAM Act immediately.