JD Vance obvously does not read the Ten Commandments because he spreads false witness about innocent immigrants

Echo opinion by columnist Cameron Smith published in The Tennessean newspaper:

OMG! eating pets are nonsense designed to divide Americans
We mostly ignore the “e pluribus unum” on the cash in our pockets. America affirms “From many, one.” It’s an imperfectly executed ideal, but it begs us to connect instead of divide.

When my oldest son spends time with Dennis and Isaiah, they don’t ask to see his proof of citizenship.

They recognize his family traditions are a little different, but they always include him even if he doesn’t quite understand what’s going on.

The language barrier is significant, but they make it work because they genuinely care. I can’t definitively say whether my son has eaten any domesticated dogs or cats, but his friends love him more than they fear his cultural influence.

Refusing to reflect the same gracious approach to our myriad differences rejects one of America’s highest ideals.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve watched my Republican brethren contort themselves to justify “noble” political lies drawing the nation’s attention to an immigration situation in Springfield, Ohio.

The Republican nominees for president and vice president have claimed that pets, cats, dogs, and possibly geese, are being eaten by Haitian immigrants.

The horrible claims were accompanied by a viral video of blood-soaked Alexis Ferrell who was arrested and charged in August for allegedly killing and eating a cat just outside of Canton, Ohio, which is about 150 miles from Springfield. 

Guess what❓Ferrell is neither Haitian nor a migrant❗ She’s also raising insanity as a defense against the charges brought against her.

JD Vance creates stories, but here are the facts on Haitian immigrants:  When pressed on the matter J.D. Vance said, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.” ahhh....so what about the suffering Vance caused to the innocent immigrants❓ (So let me get this ❓😏- Vance claims to be a Roman Catholic convert.  HELLO❗ As a practicing Roman Catholic woman I can tell the world with 100 percent certainty that when anybody creates false stories about people, the sin falls into the Ten Commandments:  Thout shalt not bear false witness. Exodus 20:16. Amen.)

Springfield faces a legitimate immigration challenge. Political hyperbole only makes it worse.

Haitian immigrants fled to the United States to avoid abject poverty and political violence. The vast majority have utilized President Joe Biden’s legal pathways to enter America which include work authorization under Temporary Protected Status.

As a result, about 15,000 Haitians have migrated to Springfield over the last several years. They now comprise almost 20% of the population and 15% of the workforce.

That much growth in a short time frame creates strain on existing infrastructure.

In sending additional resources to the city, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine noted the difficulties facing the community. “When you go from a population of 58,000 and add 15,000 people onto that, you're going to have some challenges and some problems,” DeWine said. “And we're addressing those.”

Contrary to Vance’s stupid lies and assertions, the issue has also been widely covered by the media. From migrant perpetrated violence to America’s southwest border to Congress, it’s hard to miss the immigration as a topic of public interest.

Just this year, our political leaders developed and Republicans dismissed immigration legislation that would have addressed a wide range of immigration issues including asylum.

We don’t need to accuse a discreet migrant group of eating pets to enable such conversations. We must also ensure that our “cultural concerns” aren’t racism by another name.

My son, Cam, first met Dennis and Isaiah at Barefoot Republic, a Christ-centered summer camp which facilitates Christ-centered relationships between individuals from diverse racial, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds.

Isaiah is bilingual and served as an interpreter since phones at the cam were off limits. The teens discovered that they lived about a half hour from each other in the Middle Tennessee area, and they’ve been spending time together ever since.

Cam wouldn’t appreciate his friends and their families questioning his immigration status because of the color of his skin. He’d be understandably upset if they made fun of his hair or clothes. I’m pretty sure he still hasn’t decided if he likes the nickname “Papi Chulo.” Imagine if his friends accused the Williamson County kid of stealing family pets and eating them.

Do we care about “e pluribus unum”? Let’s act upon it then

My son now frequently finds himself in the unfamiliar minority, and he’s treated exceptionally well. He realizes what it’s like not to understand. His friends help him.

He feels what it’s like to look different. They let him borrow their clothes. It creates real empathy that lasts when he’s back in a majority context.

We mostly ignore the “e pluribus unum” on the cash in our pockets. America affirms “From many, one.” It’s an imperfectly executed ideal, but it begs us to connect instead of divide.

We can both enforce immigration laws faithfully and simultaneously refuse to assume that people who speak a different language or have different amounts of melanin in their skin don’t belong.

That’s the America I want❗⭐🌟🤩

I don’t need a political champion to bring it about. I don’t want legislation introduced to fix it. I just need “Papi Chulo” and his friends to build lasting relationships instead of giving way to those who shout that fear is the safer course. 

I’m not so naive as to believe that everyone will follow their example. I have hope that enough will.

Letter from a Birmingham newspaper - fix DACA now

On the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, this letter to the editor published in Birmingham Alabama, carries the echo of history and a clarion call to Republicans ~ we must override Donald Trump and protect our American immigrants, especially the children. It's impossible for me to believe that America wants to continue on the regressive Republican road toward shutting down the government because they don't want to help solve a human rights and immigration crises.

Opinion letter published in the Birmingham News (AL.com), in Alabama, calls for a progressive immigration path, to be supported by Republicans:

Republicans must address DACA in spite of Trump's deal disaster ~ by conservative columnist Cameron Smith

When retiring Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and rising star Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduce legislation for a permanent response to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, there's clearly a path for a reasonable legislative deal in Congress. 

Unfortunately, President Donald Trump seems bent on turning that opportunity into a disaster.

DACA gives Republicans heartburn because President Obama circumvented Congress and effectively changed American immigration law by altering how it is enforced. That's why then-candidate Donald Trump called DACA "illegal executive amnesty" in 2016.

Obama's penchant for unilateral action notwithstanding, Congress must solve the underlying immigration problem that DACA attempts to address. Doing so will almost certainly require a bipartisan deal.

To be clear, DACA isn't a blanket amnesty for all immigrants who have violated our immigration laws. It narrowly focuses on a population of immigrants who arrived as minor children. Immigrants shielded by DACA (around one million) likely account for less than ten percent of the unauthorized immigrant population in the United States (about eleven million).

Most of them have lived in America their entire lives. Telling them to "go back home" to a country that has never actually been their home isn't reasonable. It's also worth noting that we generally don't hold minor children liable for parents who violate the law.

Lankford, Hatch, and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the Solution for Undocumented Children through Careers Employment Education and Defending our nation (SUCCEED) Act as a good faith legislative response to DACA. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats have been pushing versions of the Dream Act for almost two decades.

Trump made striking a compromise difficult by arbitrarily giving Congress six months from September of 2017 to make DACA permanent. If Congress fails, Trump has pledged to "revisit" the issue. That gave Democrats a possible backstop in the event they agree with Republican immigration proposals.

Republicans will undoubtedly take some political heat for doing anything which benefits immigrants currently protected by DACA. In any good deal, all parties give a little. Republicans seem willing to yield some ground on DACA, but it's not clear what aspect of immigration policy Democrats are willing to concede.

In recent immigration negotiations open to the press, President Trump said he has "no problem" passing a "clean" response to DACA now with promises from Democrats to "go into a comprehensive immigration reform procedure" in the future.

That isn't the best deal; it's not even a good deal. It's more like a one-sided concession from Trump that he's since tried to walk back by insisting on his (Maine Writer ~ aka, "evil") border wall.

With Trump willing to sign whatever Congress puts on his desk, he's not exactly putting pressure on Democrats. 

Congress could deliver the Dream Act. It might be the SUCCEED act. Heck, it might be a new pet turtle. He'll sign it and tell everyone how great it is.

To put it mildly, Trump has complicated DACA negotiations for Republican leaders in Congress. Nearly a million DACA beneficiaries and a broken immigration system simply can't wait much longer for answers. Hopefully a majority of Congress understand the art of the deal better than the man who wrote a book on it.

Cameron Smith is a regular columnist for AL.com and vice president for the R Street Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.