In the midst of partisan conflict, immigration gives Republicans a window of opportunity

It’s time for Republicans to lead on immigration. Having stormed into formidable majorities in both houses during the last election, the party has an opportunity to act. Do Republicans offer solutions, or do they merely embody the discontent of their base?

Until February 10, President Obama’s November 2014 executive order was on track to provide relief to over 4 million people who are either the parents of legal citizens or were brought here as children. Those plans are now on hold as the White House appeals a Texas federal court ruling blocking the order.

Not content with allowing the judicial branch to work, the President’s opponents in congress initially presented a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that cut resources needed to issue work permits while maintaining funding for core DHS functions. Speaker Boehner recognized that such a bill would be filibustered or vetoed and that Republicans would bear the brunt of the blame for the ensuring government shutdown theatrics. On March 3 he allowed a vote on a temporary funding bill that supports the DHS through September. What happens after that is up in the air.

The all-too-typical partisan rancor that has erupted over the President’s order is saddening because of how this issue relates to American flourishing. Unless the data positively verify that immigration harms economic productivity or undermines security, our default presumption should be in favor of keeping an open door. In fact, multiple studies show that America’s immigrant populations are more entrepreneurial and, within a couple generations, better educated than their native-born counterparts.

Republican intransigence on immigration is also puzzling because of how it relates to the long-run electability of their party. Last fall, even before the President had finished his speech, the conversation shifted from what to do about a broken system to the audacity of his order. Not to belittle that issue: checks on executive power are crucial to our democracy and it’s important that these points of law be vigorously debated. But why aren’t Republican voices as shrill about fixing a framework that forces families to live in fear, deports skilled workers, and contributes to the development of an untaxed, unregulated shadow economy? Voters who are personally connected to this issue will no doubt be wondering the same thing during the next election.

An executive order is reversible and often temporary. Immigration advocacy centers working with families are left without much to say when asked “What happens when a new president gets elected in 2016?”

Against this backdrop of uncertainty Congress has an opportunity to write legislation preserving the sensible aspects of the President’s order while going even further. In addition to the 4 million undocumented residents whom the order was intended for, there are nearly 1 million foreign students pursuing degrees at American universities and many more who are sponsored through temporary work visas. These short-term residents are disproportionately focused on the sciences, engineering, and tech, sectors where demand for talent is absolutely ferocious. America’s policy of forcibly exporting all this human capital is a self-destructive one. In addition to undocumented individuals, Congress should write a plan that considers those with temporary visas, expanding avenues for permanent residence and citizenship.

Such a move would be unpopular with segments of the Republican base. It would require bold leadership from House Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader McConnell. It might even cost some Republicans their seats in the next election cycle, when voters opposed to any form of compromise once again make their rage known.

Yet it would also confer moral credibility while addressing a major policy need. Almost all of us were immigrants at some point. The basic human drive to move from poverty to abundance, from violence to security, will continue to place incredible pressure on America’s borders. So let’s manage that pressure by expanding legal avenues for permanent residence even as we make illegal entry harder. In the political brawl over immigration lies opportunity. How Republicans confront this challenge will be either a testament to the party’s dynamism, or an indictment of its smallness.