The Mayflower passengers began America’s modern immigration history, and millions more people have come here over four centuries. Some received permission to leave their countries of origin while others did not (The Mayflower passengers snuck out of England to Holland and sailed from there to Cape Cod). Some immigrants got prior permission to come to America from the people who were already here, while others like the Mayflower passengers did not. Regardless of the circumstances of their arrival, these immigrants built the Country we have today, an accomplishment of which their descendants are rightly proud.
Today there is a society – the Society of Mayflower Descendants – in honor of the 1620 voyage, and we celebrate a national holiday later in November in the Pilgrims’ honor as well. The Sons of Italy celebrate the immigration story from that Country, particularly on Columbus Day, and there are celebrations of immigration from many other places.
For practical reasons we have more immigration controls than we did in former times, but those controls do not define the values of our Country. The President should celebrate Thanksgiving not just by pardoning a single turkey but by showing his willingness to forgive human beings who did not follow our current immigration rules when they came to America. Congress should enact a law that embodies practical policies to protect our Country – particularly our security -- while honoring American values. Lawyers in particular have an obligation to promote laws that conform to those values, and that don’t become an end in themselves. From 1620 onward, it was the tradition of a warm welcome not a hostile “no amnesty” agenda that defined America.
Note: For those willing to ignore political correctness and the myth that all immigration must conform to the same legal norms, the Society of Mayflower Descendants web page is here:
https://www.themayflowersociety.org/
The contribution of immigrants to American business is discussed here: https://www.uschamber.com/immigration
The perspective of America’s largest Christian denomination is here:
And my own views presented at a 2014 conference at Villanova in honor of Judge John T. Noonan, Jr. are here:
http://lawweb2009.law.villanova.edu/lawreview/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/VLR_59.4_Painter.pdf
Happy Thanksgiving!