This week’s Parashah was the section dealing with G_d opening up a passage through the Red Sea for the Israelites to escape oppression. In this time of heated discussion and attempted compromise on immigration reform, the thought arises that perhaps, if a wall is built, G_d will tunnel the people through who might need to come across. Certainly, in this case, the DACA people are for the most part free to leave. Most of them are not being oppressed, they have rights. The issue is that they also are part of our communities and families, and thus their fates are enmeshed with ours, and it is a reflection on our moral character and history to treat them generously.
At the end of the day, if it means that a young cadre of people must leave their homes and families and go out into the world, and get visas and green cards to come back when the community says “WE MISS THEM”, then this is in fact more than their parents were able to do when they came. The kids are more empowered, and should not sell out their less empowered undocumented friends by building a wall that would make it more difficult for families to unite around difficulties, etc.
So. DACA period. No wall period. We don’t want the problems of fewer than 3% of the US population to dictate the freedom of the rest of the population. And make no mistake about it, a wall will be a pain for everyone who wants to come and go across the border.
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