We knew this, but it is worth reminding ourselves, that national Republicans weren’t always so anti-immigrant as they are today. It was presidential candidate Ronald Reagan who hailed “millions of immigrants from every corner of the earth” as a sign that God made America a “city on a hill.” President George W. Bush championed comprehensive immigration reform in 2007. About that time, according to the New York Times, a rising star in the Republican Party, Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana, urged his party not to abandon its support for immigration. “We are either going to prove that we believe in the ideas enshrined on the Statue of Liberty, or the American people will go looking elsewhere.” –Fletcher Farrar, editor and CEO
This article appears in Aug 22-28, 2019.
