Editor's note: Ali Noorani is the executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an organization based in Washington that advocates for the value of immigrants. Follow him on Twitter.
By Ali Noorani, Special to CNN
(CNN) - Dear Barack Obama and Mitt Romney,
As much as America is looking forward to 10 more weeks of soothing campaign rhetoric (fingernails on the blackboard of America's psyche), I write to urge you to offer the nation a compelling vision for a common-sense immigration process. Your respective parties' conventions would be a great place to start.
First off, you should know that poll after poll shows a broad spectrum of Americans want a rational immigration process. In fact, a recent Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that immigration was one of only a few public policy issues where, as the Post put it, "rank-and-file Republicans and Democrats are less divided."
A creative approach to immigration may not play to your parties' fringes, but a clear majority of Americans want a pragmatic federal immigration policy.
Yet while the immigration solutions are simple, changing the conversation is not.
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Help | Advertising Practices
The easiest way to fix immigration is to arrest illegal immigrants, force them to do five years of hard labor in prison and deport them after they are done serving their time in prison.