I’ve watched most of the Republican presidential debates to this point. I don’t think it is fair to be critical of anything unless you make the effort to first understand it.

There was a lot of strong language about the border crisis – specifically calling it a “disaster.” I listened closely for solutions. Most of what I heard was “finish the wall,” “seal the border” and turn back the tide of people trying to get into our country. Inferences were made that these people are drug runners, rapists or criminals. 

Ron DeSantis went so far as to say he would shoot the drug runners on sight. He didn’t explain how he would recognize the ones carrying drugs.

I also heard a lot of bluster about deporting all the people who are illegally in our country. Again, no specifics were offered. 

So, let’s take a closer look at the details.

Consider a hypothetical person we’ll call Frank, because his real name is unpronounceable for most Americans.

He’s a young man residing in what our former president called a “sh#thole country.” He has hope and ambition for a good life and his country is falling apart due to war and economic collapse.

Frank has relatives in the U.S., living there legally. He gets a job on a freight ship and his family helps him secretly get into the U.S. at a port city. 

Do we arrest and deport these family members for aiding an illegal alien?

A church helps house and feed Frank initially and eventually helps him find housing and a job. It’s a minimum wage job but Frank loves it because it’s better than where he came from. 

Do we arrest and prosecute the pastor of the church for illegally aiding an alien? Do we eliminate the church’s tax-free status for criminal activity?

Frank’s employer filled a job that has been open for months, enabling his business to serve more customers at an improved service level. 

Do we criminally prosecute this employer for employing an illegal alien?

Obviously, if helping Frank is a crime, we have a lot of people we have to prosecute, along with deporting Frank. And we hurt a viable business that is just trying to fill open positions.

Now let’s take a closer look at a strategy to deport everyone who is in our country illegally. 

Two of the most shameful episodes in American history are the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the mass relocation of Cherokees and other southeast U.S. tribes to Oklahoma.

About 125,000 American citizens of Japanese descent had their property confiscated and were incarcerated in internment camps on the belief they would aid Japan in the war. This was despite some of their sons serving in our military. No such action was taken with citizens of German descent.

About 100,000 American Indians in the southeast U.S. were relocated to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. White people wanted their land, and President Jackson was happy to give it to them, despite a Supreme Court decision that state laws did not apply to indigenous tribes. 

Thousands died making the 1,200-mile walk to Oklahoma.

There are approximately 11 million people illegally in our country. About 2.3 million are “Dreamers,” brought into the U.S. at a young age. Previous administrations have protected Dreamers from deportation and looked for a path to citizenship for them. Almost all work and half of them are employed in industries with severe labor shortages such as healthcare. 

In fact, most illegal aliens are employed and paying taxes.

Seriously, we’re going to deport 11 million people? 

These same presidential candidates also talk about our economy being a top issue. Any objective analysis would conclude that mass deportation of working people would crush our economy more severely than anything we’ve experienced since the Great Depression.

I agree that our border situation is a disaster, but to me it is a humanitarian disaster. I would love to interview governors DeSantis (Florida) and Abbott (Texas) about their actions to deal with it. 

But first, I would like to deport them to Somalia with no ID, no money and no phone, carrying a card in Somali saying “Democrats have ruined my country so I am seeking asylum in Somalia.” 

If they make it back, I would like to focus the interview on the humanitarian disaster at our border once they have first-hand knowledge of it.

I can’t fathom that the strategies talked about in these debates are what “One Nation Under God” really wants. 

We have 10 months until our next election to find intelligent people who can set immigration and asylum quotas based on our needs for labor and population growth; who can develop a fair process to decide who we admit; who will staff such a system with enough people to rapidly make a determination; who can work collaboratively with communities and churches willing to help rapidly integrate these people into our communities; and who can collaborate with other countries toward a solution for those our better system still can’t admit.

The candidates in the Republican debates – or the one who skipped them – didn’t strike me as having the intelligence or guts to get the job needed done.