By The River

The current hatred of immigrants being driven by far-right conservatives in the Republican Party subsided a bit yesterday with the announcement by Congressional Democrats and the White House of a compromise amnesty and guest worker program that may be a start on resolving the issue of illegal immigrants and ending it as a political issue. As I've pointed out before, immigration didn't become the issue it is now until about two years ago, when the conservative lords of the G.O.P. sensed that the gay marriage issue was no longer as good at riling up the know-nothing crowd as it once was.

Here's a true story about how the twin conservative obsessions of immigration and national security have affected one family. I can't give their names, for obvious reasons. Although they've done nothing wrong, the possibility of retaliation by some functionary in the Bush Administration is there. I know them well, have known them for years. He was one of my best friends from college, a fellow leftist and Democrat.

I'll call them Patrick and Elizabeth. Patrick is an American, born and raised in New Jersey. Elizabeth is a Canadian citizen. They met and married in Ottawa, Canada. Both are white, college-educated professionals, employable just about anywhere. Many of you may have fond memories of the easy relationship between the U.S. and Canada, of border guards who waved you across with a smile. Those days are gone.

They moved from Canada to California with their two sons a couple of years ago for Patrick's job. Elizabeth was unable to get papers from the U.S. government to legally work in her profession here, but she was at least allowed to stay in the country. They waited and waited for her "green card"--permanent residency authorization--to come through. It didn't. Patrick sought to use his considerable political connections to help the process along. He was told by a top Democrat that the Bush Administration was the first in memory that wouldn't even return his calls.

So three months ago, Elizabeth's visa "parole" expired. They couldn't get it renewed. She and her sons, who are American citizens, took up temporary residency across the border in British Columbia. "We were naive enough to think that they would grant her anothere, but they didn't," Patrick said. "So she and the boys went to Ottawa once it was clear the U.S. authorities weren't going to let her cross the border at Blaine, Washington."

Patrick is moving to a new job in Pennsylvania. Elizabeth has since gotten a job with the Canadian government, with which she gets an i.d. that will allow her to travel to the U.S. for brief periods. Patrick continues to work to get her permanent residency so the family can be reunited in the U.S., as it ought to be.

Is this the kind of America we want?