Immigration Reform: Making America Stronger

With members of Congress back in their districts for the August recess, many are hearing from their constituents and thinking through when and how the House of Representatives should move forward on immigration reform.  Republican members in particular are having important conversations with voters in their districts on what immigration reform means in their communities and states.

And while the debate has changed over the years, the fundamental values that shape our thinking on immigration are same.  Even after leaving office 25 years ago, the guidepost for Republican thought on most public policy issues is clear: “What does President Reagan have to say about the issue?”

For those who don’t remember the 1980s so well (or may not have even been born), our nation’s most innovative companies, as members of the Tech CEO Council, ITI and other tech coalition partners, just released a web video that answers the above question with help from our 40th President himself.

President Reagan understood that immigration reform means a stronger more prosperous America for everyone. Speaking of America as a ‘shining city on a hill’ in his farewell address to the nation he noted “…and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still.”

There’s a reason the Gipper was called the Great Communicator.  Through his words can be felt the optimism and can-do spirit of America.  And if you can cut through the noise and heated rhetoric surrounding the immigration reform debate one timeless truth remains:  those who come here work hard to make our economy stronger and our country a better place. 

Check out the web video for yourself here.

Public Policy Tags: Immigration

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