Deporting Childhood Arrivals and Slavery Reparations Are Analogous

No one should be guilty of the crimes or sins of their ancestors

Photo by Ryan Stone on Unsplash

Two contentious issues in America’s current polarized and shrill political atmosphere are immigration policy and socioeconomic inequality. In particular:

• Immigration Policy
  What is the future status of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as babies or children as part of a wider immigration policy?
• Socioeconomic Inequality
  Is there merit to slavery reparations to address extreme socioeconomic inequality in the historical context of slavery?

These are complex and emotionally-charged issues that appear intractable, but it may be very illuminating to consider them in light of the guiding principle:

• Principle of No Intergenerational Guilt: Children are not guilty of the crimes or sins of their ancestors.

Many across the political spectrum who disagree vehemently on these and many issues can find common ground on this principle since it appears self-evidently true. Assuming that agreement, neither strictly Left-leaning nor strictly Right-leaning political views are consistent and there’s common ground and a way forward.