Beto O'Rourke Just Might be the Brainy, Genial, and Compassionate Leader America Needs

[updated 6/18/19]

Beto O'Rourke is running for President and he might be the tonic America needs to heal the divisions in our nation and expunge the Trump years from our collective consciousness.

The Democratic Party is blessed with many fine candidates for President in 2020, but Beto is the antithesis of Donald Trump; he's smart, passionate, and optimistic about America's future. And, most importantly, he appeals to our better angels, rejecting Trump's dark vision of a nation overrun by dark-skinned rapists, terrorists, and drug dealers. Beto represented the border city of El Paso in the House so he understands that the picture the President paints is a myth driven by prejudice and fear.

As Donald Trump prepared to conduct a political rally in El Paso in February to increase support for his border wall, Beto marched with the citizens of El Paso who wished to highlight the positive impact that immigrants had made in the city. The President used El Paso as an example of a city that was violent and crime-ridden before a border fence was erected in 2008. The residents of the El Paso know that's a fiction apparently concocted by Republicans in Texas and Trump officials without access to the internet or crime statistics.

El Paso's crime rate peaked with the rest of the nation in the early 1990s and then fell quickly through the 2000s to one of the lowest in the nation several years before the border fence was constructed in 2008. Actually, El Paso's crime rate ticked up a notch after the wall was built, but it's still one of the safest cities in America.

O'Rourke highlighted these statistics and many other points about America's immigration policy in a well researched and thoughtful piece he wrote for "Medium" in February. He also laid out a 10 point, common-sense platform for the nation's future immigration policy. His 10th point captures the essential argument many in America have with Trump's rhetoric on the issue.

Medium: "Speak with respect and dignity when referring to our fellow human beings who happen to be immigrants and asylum seekers, who in so many cases are doing exactly what we would do if presented with the same threats and opportunities. No more “invasions”, “animals”, “rapists and criminals”, “floods”, “crisis” — dehumanizing rhetoric leads to dehumanizing policies. We cannot sacrifice our humanity in the name of security — or we risk losing both."

And Beto closed his piece in February with the message that El Paso has for the nation, not one of walls, but one of inclusiveness and hope.

Medium: "Monday we will welcome the President to one of the safest cities in the United States. Safe not because of walls, and not in spite of the fact that we are a city of immigrants. Safe because we are a city of immigrants and because we treat each other with dignity and respect. A city that has the opportunity to lead on the most important issues before us, out of experience, out of compassion and out of a fierce determination to see this country live its ideals and rise to its full potential."

By: Don Lam & Curated Content

#Beto #opinion #news #immigration