{"id":387112,"date":"2026-07-05T17:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/387112\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T17:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:52:11","slug":"opinion-san-diegans-attempt-to-cross-the-red-blue-divide-on-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/387112\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: San Diegans attempt to cross the red-blue divide on immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Aluminum<\/a>A detainee is searched as another boards a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flight departing from King County International Airport-Boeing Field in Seattle on Aug. 23, 2025. (File photo by Lindsey Wasson\/Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Can regular citizens find common ground on reforming\u00a0or\u00a0enforcing American immigration law?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

It is a daunting question.\u00a0The U.S. Immigration system\u00a0is widely considered the second most complex body of law in the country, trailing only the tax code. Today, five different Federal agencies handle its execution, the backlog of pending cases in immigration court has skyrocketed to\u00a03.3 million,\u00a0and the paperwork\u00a0required\u00a0has grown exponentially. <\/p>\n

This has all\u00a0occurred since\u00a0President\u00a0Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act<\/a>\u00a0in 1986.\u00a0Nearly 3 million\u00a0undocumented immigrants who could prove continued residence since\u00a0January\u00a01, 1982, were granted amnesty. We have been reforming, changing, ignoring,\u00a0underfunding, understaffing and politicizing immigration ever since, not to mention confounding lawful and unlawful immigration to suit different interest groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adding to this mix are the two latest Supreme Court rulings, handed down on June 29:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The government can block asylum-seekers at the southern border. <\/p>\n

The Temporary Protected Status<\/a>\u00a0for those already in the United States, particularly Haitians and Syrians, can be ended.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A grassroots approach<\/p>\n

Unraveling and restructuring this system is a monumental task. Yet, that is exactly what a group of 22 citizens from across San Diego County recently gathered to do.\u00a0Under the auspices of Braver Angels<\/a>, a national organization dedicated to bridging the partisan divide, we met as part of their\u00a0nationwide\u00a0Citizens Commission on Immigration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A San Diego Braver Angel workshop was part of this\u00a0national\u00a0process. Red (leaning\u00a0conservative) and blue\u00a0(leaning\u00a0liberal) participants engaged in messy discussions. What\u00a0emerged\u00a0was an interesting set of agreements \u2500 about values,\u00a0concerns\u00a0and policy recommendations. <\/p>\n

But there was another interesting layer about getting from here to there. The immigration chasm and how it might be bridged merited both\u00a0an\u00a0overview (what we call newsworthy) and how participants on both sides viewed that process\u00a0(what can be learned by the conversation).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s\u00a0look first at\u00a0several of the\u00a0points of agreement\u00a0in the summary statement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Values\u00a0that had unanimous agreement:\u00a0Controlled borders; economics are important (acknowledge limited resources); enforcement of the law; due\u00a0process is important; resource allocation to Americans first; and the importance of immigrants to society.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Concerns\u00a0that had unanimous agreement:\u00a0Economic burden (medical, legal, education, court services overload);\u00a0massive influx overwhelming the system; chain immigration (beyond immediate family;\u00a0fraudulent\u00a0immigration claims; safe communities; inhumane enforcement; fair treatment for Dreamers; coherent and timely pathway to legal status; and accountability of our community leaders and elected officials to enforce existing laws.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Solutions or Policies\u00a0that had unanimous agreement: Enforce\u00a0e-verify; limit the number of people from each country according to our country\u2019s need, and other countries\u2019 humanitarian situation; hire personnel necessary to expeditiously process immigration case backlogs;\u00a0resolve the legality of sanctuary states and cities;\u00a0enforce existing laws;\u00a0\u00a0develop a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers; show legal identification of immigration agents during enforcement; and\u00a0protect\u00a0immigration agents from\u00a0unlawful interference\u00a0with their duties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were many more points that did not reach unanimous agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Engagement across the divide<\/p>\n

The authors of this column decided at the beginning of our workshop that it was worth discussing how we tangled with the process of what remained and what was taken off the immigration \u2018consensus\u2019 platform.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We faced a\u00a0challenging\u00a0task. As we began to look seriously at solutions and policies, the discussions became more intense. The difficulty\u00a0lay\u00a0in meshing diverse opinions with the mechanics of proposed solutions.\u00a0Surprisingly\u00a0we were successful in detaching the ideals of political parties from what we as individuals wanted to see addressed. Wordsmithing for a limited number\u00a0of\u00a0statements was the final hurdle.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But realistically, can regular citizens find common ground on reforming, or enforcing, American immigration law?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Admittedly, we did not have a comprehensive view. We focused on high-profile issues: criteria for entry and exit, immigrant integration, creating legal categories, and dealing with unlawful immigration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As participants,\u00a0we\u00a0decided to memorialize this process.\u00a0We were engaged and wondered, perhaps a\u00a0bit\u00a0of\u00a0hoping as well, that the perceived divide could actually be bridged.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What we discovered\u00a0<\/p>\n

We weren\u2019t surprised that many specific issues were contentious:\u00a0ICE activity as well as the treatment of ICE by protesters; whether deportation should be limited to only the worst criminals or include anyone who illegally entered the country; what to do about Dreamers; whether anyone being admitted should be a positive contributing member of society and be self-sufficient; and how to deal with the massive influx already here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To our shared surprise, the \u201creds\u201d and \u201cblues\u201d in the room reached genuine common ground on many issues. We found immediate consensus on controversial ones that usually stall out in Washington: enforcing existing laws,\u00a0securing\u00a0and controlling the borders, treating every individual with respect and dignity, and dramatically increasing funding for staff and immigration judges to handle the crushing demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the process affected each of us differently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s View:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised at finding ready\u00a0agreement\u00a0on enforcing existing laws.\u00a0Perhaps this\u00a0had to do with the selection of moderate participants. Early on, someone remarked that this sounded like a \u2018sensible\u2019 group where extremists\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0included. While that made our day successful, it leaves me with a lingering concern: will our concluding agreements simply be canceled out by the larger public? Not necessarily by \u2018extremists,\u2019 but by those so stuck on their foundational values that compromise feels like defeat. That is likely as true of members of Congress as it is of the wider population.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Barbara\u2019s View:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe back-and-forth process of exchanging ideas, honestly looking for compromise, and willingly wordsmithing text was incredibly hard work. Yet, everyone embraced it. We kept refining each recommended remedy until it either went too far afield or hit the mark to everyone\u2019s satisfaction. I felt no animosity from \u2018the other\u00a0side,\u2019\u00a0nor did I\u00a0exhibit\u00a0it. Instead, I\u00a0witnessed\u00a0a profound effort to listen, to understand, and to reach consensus as individual humans rather than party representatives. What we shared was a desire to find solutions to an old but increasingly monumental challenge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The road ahead\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our experience\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0isolated. Across the country, Braver Angels is holding dozens of online and onsite discussion groups, giving Americans\u00a0a venue\u00a0to proffer real solutions to a major problem.\u00a0Ultimately, these\u00a0findings of common ground on immigration will be presented directly to the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus<\/a>, lawmakers such as San Diego\u2019s Scott Peters who have committed to favoring policy over partisan politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the two of us look back on those five hours, we agree that the process of finding common ground has its own value, one that Braver Angels advocates on our behalf,\u00a0whether a perfect final agreement is reached or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Too often, everyday citizens are left in an unpleasant societal limbo, wondering if our political divide will permanently paralyze our leadership. Our experience in San Diego gave us some hope. If a handful of disparate-thinking people can sit in a room and agree on paths forward for our nation\u2019s most complex crisis, our leaders can, too. Immigration reform cannot be delayed for future generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For further information about this national movement, visit Braverangels.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joe Nalven is an adviser to the\u00a0Californians for Equal Rights Foundation<\/a>\u00a0and a former associate director of the Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias at San Diego State University. Barbara Tooker is a published writer and workshop facilitator<\/a> who served on the Temecula Valley Unified School District Governing Board for 17 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A detainee is searched as another boards a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flight departing from King County…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156000,14,156001,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-387112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-braver-angels","tag-immigration","tag-partisan-divide","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}