A panel Tuesday night found common ground at St. Mary’s University over the need for municipalities to move incrementally on immigration reform in the absence of federal movement — as well as the need for human-first approaches to the stickiest immigration challenges.
They disagreed, however, on Gov. Greg Abbott’s moves at the border, and on how much help a person can grant a migrant in need, without sacrificing too much. As Catholics, each of the panelists agreed that their faith-based emphasis on the value of life has an immigration application.
For the lecture series, Finding Common Ground for the Common Good, St. Mary’s University hosted U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio), former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley Sister Norma Pimentel, and St. Mary’s Law Professor Erica Schommer.
In front of a crowd of 160 professors, students and members of the San Antonio community, panelists first answered questions from St. Mary’s University President Thomas Mengler then the audience.
Wolff sat in the middle of the panelists. To his right, Pimentel told recent stories of migrant families and their experiences after crossing the southern border. To his left, Gonzales talked about his proposed legislation called the HIRE Act, and Schommer noted that the U.S. is in some ways responsible for the economic needs that precipitated the influx of migrants seeking better lives.
“I don’t normally agree with Republican elected officials on immigration issues, and while I didn’t agree with everything that Congressman Gonzales said, I very much appreciate his willingness to be in conversation and have a dialogue that isn’t dehumanizing and divisive,” Schommer said.
Panelists agreed that Congress hasn’t been able to pass comprehensive immigration reform, so many policy changes will need to be handled piece by piece.
During a back-and-forth about Abbott’s Operation Lone Star and the razor wire and buoys he had installed on the border, several panelists said they believe the latest border measures are illegal. Gonzales argued that most of the border doesn’t have the buoys, and Wolff said the state’s intervention in federal immigration is for publicity and political gain.
“It’s so disheartening to see that barbed wire and walls and fences and buoys — and it’s got to stop,” Wolff said. “It gets so much play when you read about it in the newspapers. It just generates tremendous publicity for the governor and he just basks in it. But none of it makes sense.”
Pimentel jumped in: “The political gain you’re talking about? I have seen the consequence.”
In McAllen, a migrant family recently arrived at the Catholic Charities Respite Center. The father of the family had large cuts across his back from the buoys, Pimentel said.
“We must take care of each other. That should be the basis of what we do, but we must do it in a way that helps our country be better for everybody,” she said.
As for whether it’s possible to divorce politics from the conversation about immigration, “It’s going to be a heavy lift, Nelson,” Gonzales said to Wolff.
“Anything immigration, immediately you lose half the people if not more,” he said. “If we can take one positive step forward, then all of a sudden maybe we can take two steps and start to work.”
Gonzales said that was his approach to pushing the HIRE Act, which has garnered bipartisan support. The bill would streamline H-2 temporary visa programs; extend visas to three years; use technology to vet migrants and help companies to look for permanent employees abroad.
Pimentel agreed that moving toward solutions will not be easy. “The heavier the lift, it’s because the better [the outcome] will be,” she said. “Protecting our borders, making sure we can control what comes into the country is very important, but we must separate the human part.”
An attendee asked about the Dignity Act, a comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform bill introduced in May that would address border security, border infrastructure, legal status for undocumented immigrants already living in the United States with the possibility of earning citizenship, and establishes new pathways for asylum-seekers. The bill has been referred to multiple committees, but has not moved through the House.
Gonzales seemed skeptical, answering that politicians should focus on a specific immigration issue and start there, versus trying to combat immigration reform at once.
“They’re trying, and that’s good,” Wolff said. “But I think you would have a decent shot at doing something that’s more targeted like Congressman [Gonzales] is trying to do.”
The panel agreed that immigration isn’t just a South Texas issue, but a nationwide issue, and that the political process is difficult to navigate — but not impossible.
“If we could talk about this thing in a positive way and concentrate on things that can be done to make a difference, such as Representative Gonzales’ bill, we could find a solution,” Wolff said.
But Gonzales said he’s met constituents who are are tired, scared and upset, making convincing them of certain reforms harder.
“I’m seeing first-generation Americans that used to see migrants in the eyes of their grandparents and are now saying, ‘You are causing harm to my life. You’re changing my lifestyle,’ and they’re angry and they’re scared,” he said.
Gonzales and other panelists said the U.S. can start addressing immigration reform by focusing on Mexico, Central and South America economically and politically, to address the root causes of why people are migrating to the U.S.
“What we need is to acknowledge that the way to make [immigration] safe is to have a system that reflects the realities of our economy and the realities of the world,” Schommer said. “I agree we need to do more work abroad. Lots of reasons that economies in Central America and Mexico aren’t doing so well for people have root causes in our foreign policy.”
Professor of exercise and sports science at St. Mary’s University Susanna Moczygemba sat in the crowd throughout the event, and credited the university with hosting a difficult and much-needed discussion.
“St. Mary’s is headed in the right direction in continuing to have these open conversations. A lot of issues arise from not having open discussions, and just having those headlines and people truly not understanding what is behind the problem,” she said. “This gives the community, especially our students, the opportunity to learn what is truly behind the problem.”
