Once again, our nation is faced with an issue which our leaders in Washington have approached in a divisive manner. This time, Republicans and Democrats are locking horns over immigration reform, as a surge of illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican border into Texas has created a crisis.

President Barack Obama, speaking at a July 4 naturalization ceremony during which a number of legal immigrants took an oath of allegiance and became American citizens, said, "We are a nation of immigrants."

He called for immigration reform to attract "the best and brightest" to our shore. But he said nothing about the humanitarian crisis taking place along the nation's southern border, where thousands of illegal immigrants have come into the country in recent months. They may or may not be the "best and the brightest." It's too soon to tell, as most of them are children.

Republicans say it is Obama's responsibility to enforce the letter of the law by securing the borders. The president has pushed back, saying if Congress does not enact legislation reform, he will take executive action to resolve some of the problems.

Immigrants say they are running from violence, killings and gang activity in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The influx has been too much for Texas facilities to handle.

In Murrieta, Calif., protestors rallied against a plan to transfer illegal immigrants into their region, while at the same time, a larger group of demonstrators there said they supported humanitarian efforts.

Other towns where immigrants were routed for processing have accepted the relocations without protest, although the immigrants will undoubtedly place stress on social services and will compete for jobs.

While local officials deal with the flood of people who need to be processed and either sent back where they came from, detained or settled, nothing seems to be happening in Washington, D.C.

I am getting really tired of leaders on both sides of the issue using it as an opportunity to score political points instead of putting on their problem-solving caps and getting to work on finding a way to compromise and solve the problem.

While we wait, children and families hoping for a better life are living a warehoused existence, in limbo.

Linda Wojciechowski

associate editor

Catasauqua Press