One of the most important jobs we have as lawmakers is protecting the interests of those in danger. This is something nearly all legislators can agree on regardless of their political background or what region they represent. We must protect those who need it most. 

Recently, the Assembly minority conference has advocated alongside our majority colleagues for two important measures to keep New Yorkers safe. Bill A.2231, also known as Jacobe’s Law, and bill A.6026, also known as Melanie’s Law, are both born of tragedy, and for that reason they are all the more important to pass into law. 

Jacobe’s Law is carried by Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh (R,C–Ballston) and co-sponsored by legislators on both sides of the political aisle. It would require school administrators to contact the parents or guardians of students who are bullied or harassed and was written after 13-year-old Jacobe Taras tragically took his life as a result of being bullied.

Additionally, Melanie’s Law extends orders of protection to all immediate family members of a crime victim regardless of that family member’s age. This bill honors Melanie Chianese, a young woman killed by her mother’s ex-boyfriend. Per statute, the order of protection shielding Melanie’s mother and Melanie’s infant son did not include Melanie as she was deemed ineligible due to her age, 29, at the time she was killed. Assemblyman Anil Beephan Jr. (R,C–East Fishkill) has worked hard to gain traction for this legislation and has co-sponsored it alongside our majority colleagues.

In both instances, these bipartisan bills work to accomplish the same goal: protect the vulnerable. With measures in place to keep parents informed about what goes on while they are not in the direct care of their children and to ensure those exposed to dangerous individuals because of where they live, or who they are related to, are afforded proper protection, we can better identify those who need help and seek ways to insulate them from danger.

 I am proud of the work our Assembly minority conference has put into advocating for these bills and the New Yorkers they will ultimately save. These measures represent the best of what we do as lawmakers, which is to come together to guard those who need it most. Together, we can make New York a safer place for all those who live and visit here, and that is, ultimately, the most important thing we can do to serve those who elected us to office.      

William (Will) A. Barclay, 54, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses all of Oswego County, as well as parts of Jefferson and Cayuga counties.

All eyes have been on the U.S. Mexico border in recent weeks as politicians and pundits assess the impact of changing rules for who can enter the United States. But the fixation on the border can distract from a bigger problem: America’s immigration system hasn’t kept up with the times.

We need an immigration policy that advances our national interest, one that reflects our needs as well as our values. It should complement and support American foreign policy. It should respond to the current realities of workforce demands and international migration.

Yet our immigration system hasn’t been seriously updated since 1986. Our approach, which prioritizes family unification, doesn’t properly support an economy that has been transformed by massive technological change and a vast shift to service-sector jobs.

America is a nation of immigrants, and we need immigrants as much now as ever. But we especially need immigrants who can fill gaps in our workforce, including in science and medicine, but also in childcare, elder care, hospitality, and agriculture. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified the importance of these jobs. The need will grow more urgent because of declining U.S. birth rates and the aging of the population.

Nearly 20 years ago, a bipartisan immigration task force that I co-chaired with former Michigan Sen. Spencer Abraham sounded many of these themes. We recommended simplifying and streamlining immigration, creating distinct pathways for temporary, provisional, and permanent immigrants. We proposed a system of secure Social Security cards and worker IDs, along with “smart border” technology to reduce illegal immigration. We called for protecting the rights of immigrant workers and creating a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.

Those recommendations still stand. We don’t issue enough immigrant visas for temporary work, and the process can be cumbersome for employers and workers. As a recent Brookings Institution report explains, we can have a win-win situation by using immigrants to fill “complementary” jobs that support the creation of well-paying positions for Americans.

But making even obvious changes to immigration policy is challenging. There are many competing forces in play, and positions are highly polarized.

America has long struggled with immigration. Until 1875, there were no real restrictions on who could voluntarily enter the country. Some of the first came with the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese laborers. Immigration surged in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as cities and industry grew and factories needed workers. An anti-immigrant backlash produced the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act, which excluded most immigrants not from Northern and Western Europe.

The pendulum swung back after World War II. One of my first votes in Congress was for the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965, which repealed national-origin quotas and replaced them with a point-based system. But much has changed.

In recent years, poverty, violence, and instability have driven desperate people to try to enter the U.S. in record numbers. Contrary to popular belief, the flow of migrants from Mexico has slowed, but more have arrived from Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela — often making asylum claims. The Trump administration used Title 42, an emergency health regulation, to expel migrants quickly. That authority expired [recently], but the Biden administration adopted new rules requiring asylum seekers to apply online before entering the country.

Securing the border is important, but we can’t ignore the bigger picture: an immigration system that is long overdue for reform. There are about 45 million immigrants in the United States, most of them here legally. They care for our children and our elderly, cook and serve our meals, and grow our crops. They conduct research, provide health care, and start and run businesses.

We need a sensible, secure, and humane immigration system — for them and for all of us.        

Lee Hamilton, 92, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), representing a district in south-central Indiana.