OPINION
Editorials Where is the progress on immigration reform?
I n a 5-4 ruling last week, the U.S.

Supreme Court blocked the lifting of a
Trump-era Title 42 order on immigration,
which left in place the federal directive
that has been used to prevent the entry
of millions of asylum seekers at the
southern border.

The Biden administration promised
to lift Title 42 — a public-health-based
order implemented at the beginning
of the COVID pandemic, which has
been used by both the Trump and the
Biden administrations to expel more
than 2 million migrants on public health
grounds. While the Biden administration
outwardly sought to terminate the
rule, it is actually breathing a grateful
sigh of relief at the Supreme Court’s
Title 42 extension. That’s because the
administration hasn’t yet developed a plan
to handle the mounting mass of migrants
gathering along the U.S.-Mexican border
and seeking asylum or other grounds to
enter America.

The United States is the destination
of choice for tens of thousands of
people from Latin America who are
fleeing violence, gangs, pover ty,
corruption and the depravity of their
own governments. But we have no
comprehensive plan in place to deal with
the ever-growing immigration demands.

And, even with Title 42 in place, the
migration wave has over whelmed
border states.

The last time this country made a
serious effort at immigration reform
in the Senate. Eighteen years later, as
the demand for entry from the south
has increased many-fold, there is still
no answer. Ever yone acknowledges
the problem.

The most affected states in this mess
are Republican-led. And the stunts
from those states — like Florida Gov.

THE UNITED STATES IS THE DESTINATION OF
CHOICE FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE FROM LATIN AMERICA WHO ARE
FLEEING VIOLENCE, GANGS, POVERTY, CORRUPTION
AND THE DEPRAVITY OF THEIR OWN GOVERNMENTS.

was in 2005, in a bill co-sponsored
by Republican Sen. John McCain and
Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. Their
effort was supported by President George
W. Bush. But the bill never got a vote
Ron DeSantis sending two planeloads
of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in
Massachusetts in September and Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott sending three busloads
of migrants to Washington, D.C., on
Christmas — are offensive. But the off-
putting moves by Southern governors
are driven by genuine frustration. Their
states are unable to cope with the many
challenges presented by rising migrant
numbers, and there is no federal plan
to help.

Nearly two years ago, President Joe
Biden appointed Vice President Kamala
Harris as his “border czar” to tackle the
immigration crisis. We don’t know what
the vice president has done regarding
that assignment. But we do know that
since Biden took office in 2021, we
have seen increasing levels of migrant
crossings, further inundating a border
already heavily strained by irregular
migration and an overwhelmed asylum-
processing system. It is clear that the
longer the problem is not addressed
with a comprehensive plan, the worse it
is going to get.

The Supreme Cour t bought the
administration some additional time to
get its immigration act together. We
call on the administration to develop
an updated, comprehensive and realistic
immigration policy. JN
George Santos should resign
B efore and during his recent
campaign for of fice, incoming
Republican Rep. George Santos of
Long Island, N.Y., claimed to be
“half-Jewish.” He also claimed to be a
“Latino Jew.” He said that his maternal
grandfather was originally from Ukraine
and fled to Brazil to escape the Nazis.

He also said that his grandparents
converted to Catholicism during the
rise of Nazism in Belgium after fleeing
Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union.

“It’s a story of survival, of tenacity, of
grit, as we like to call it,” he said, and
he told prospective voters how proud he
was of it.

On Monday, Dec. 26, as Santos
backtracked on numerous other claims
he has made regarding his educational
background, employment history and
involvement in charitable work, he
clarified his connection to Judaism:
He now says that he is Jew-ish. And
he says, “I never claimed to be Jewish.

I am Catholic.” But since he believed
that his maternal family had some kind
of a Jewish connection, he felt that
he was entitled to say he is “Jew-ish.”
And he can’t understand why anyone
would think such a claim is worthy
of criticism.

Last month’s concessions by Santos
were prompted by numerous reports —
bolstered by detailed analyses from several
genealogists and historians — that Santos’
campaign claims of Jewish lineage were
York City, he was a “seasoned Wall
Street financier and investor” (having
worked for Citigroup and Goldman
Sachs) and achieved success in
his family-owned real estate business and
leadership in a successful animal-rescue
charity. None of that was true. And
WHEN VOTERS WENT TO THE POLLS IN
NOVEMBER TO ELECT A REPRESENTATIVE IN NEW
YORK’S REDRAWN 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT,
WHICH IS HOME TO A SIZEABLE JEWISH POPULATION,
THEY ELECTED A MAN WHO IS CLEARLY NOT THE
PERSON HE REPEATEDLY CLAIMED TO BE.

not true. They also say he fabricated his
family’s history with the Nazis. He now
admits that he lied about several aspects
of his own history.

In Santos’ fabricated resume, he
graduated from Baruch College in New
to make matters worse, other records
indicate that during the time Santos
claimed to have attended Baruch College,
he was with his mother in Brazil, where
he confessed to involvement in financial
fraud and was later charged in a case that
prosecutors say is unresolved. Santos
is also being investigated by federal
prosecutors from the Eastern District of
New York, the Nassau County district
attorney and the New York attorney
general’s office.

Santos is a colorful figure. He says
of himself: “I’m a free thinker. I’m
Latino. I’m gay. I’m Jewish. I do what
I want. I don’t fit in the boxes that
they want me to fit in.” But when
voters went to the polls in November
to elect a representative in New York’s
redrawn 3rd Congressional District,
which is home to a sizeable Jewish
population, they elected a man who
is clearly not the person he repeatedly
claimed to be.

Santos’ victor y helped deliver a
narrow Republican majority in the
House, and his success was celebrated
as “the full embodiment of the
American dream.” Santos now admits
to being a fraud. His American
dream has become an expanding
nightmare. He will do himself and the
voters in New York’s 3rd Congressional
District a ser vice by resigning
from office. JN
A NOTE ON OPINION
We are a diverse community. The views expressed in these opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Community Foundation, Center for Jewish
Philanthropy, Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, Mid-Atlantic Media or the staff of the Jewish News. Letters must respond to content published by the Jewish News and should be a maximum
of 200 words. They may be edited for space and clarity. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters and op-ed submissions should be sent to editor@jewishaz.com.

8 JANUARY 6, 2023
JEWISH NEWS
JEWISHAZ.COM