{"id":2797,"date":"2026-04-02T18:45:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/?p=2797"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:11:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:11:48","slug":"immigration-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/immigration-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are we making life harder for people who are making our lives better?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Why are we making life harder for people who are making our lives better? <\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\u00a0I’m Ashley Bean Thornton, and I am running for the Texas House of Representatives, House District 56.\u00a0 If you like what I have to say, and you live in HD 56, I hope you will vote for me in November 2026.\u00a0 Meanwhile, I hope you will subscribe to my newsletter: https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/stay-in-the-loop\/.<\/a>\u00a0 Thank you!\u00a0 Let’s build the Texas we want to live in!\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Ashley Bean Thornton <\/br><\/br>\n
The immigrants I know make our community richer and better.<\/h6>\nLike many of us living in McLennan County, I am lucky enough to know plenty of recent immigrants, and even more sons and daughters of recent immigrants.<\/br><\/br>\n\nEvery immigrant and son\/daughter of an immigrant that I know has made our community richer and better in some way.<\/br><\/br>\n\nThere may be some exceptions to that, but honestly, I can\u2019t think of any.<\/br><\/br>\n\nFrom professors at Baylor, to tutors and kids I worked with at Hines Elementary, to people who have started flourishing businesses here, to people who have fed me at local restaurants, to people who have worked on my house, to people I just know from being out and about in the community \u2013 the people I know who have immigrated here from other countries are making our community richer and better.<\/br><\/br>\n\nI don\u2019t know whether all these folks came here \u201clegally\u201d or \u201cillegally.\u201d\u00a0 I imagine some of both.<\/br><\/br>\n\n
I think we could be doing this better, and we would be better off.<\/h6>\nI can\u2019t help wondering: Wouldn\u2019t we be better off investing some of the billions we are currently spending on detention and deportation on a system that helps people come here legally and efficiently and get settled into jobs and communities?<\/br><\/br>\n\nA well-managed immigration system could help us grow our workforce positively. It could help us direct folks into jobs that we need to fill. It could eventually increase our tax base. In the long run it could even help stabilize our population decline and strengthen our social security system.<\/br><\/br>\n\nI know it wouldn\u2019t necessarily be easy.<\/br><\/br>\n\nWe need to make sure competition in the workforce is fair and productive. (It\u2019s worth noting, though, that our current system of turning a blind eye to employers who hire people off the books at low wages isn\u2019t helping anyone but the cheaters \u2014 not workers, not businesses that follow the rules.)<\/br><\/br>\n\nWe would need to make sure we don\u2019t overwhelm schools or housing availability or important social services. But that\u2019s exactly the point\u2014if we had a stronger system, we could actually plan for that. We could:<\/br><\/br>\n\n\u2022 pace arrivals,<\/br>\n\u2022 spread people out geographically,<\/br>\n\u2022 connect people directly to jobs.<\/br><\/br>\n\nWe could make planned investments in housing and schools instead of just reacting.<\/br><\/br>\n\nThat would be challenging. But wouldn\u2019t we be better off in the long run?<\/br><\/br>\n
But, what can state legislators do?<\/h6>\nImmigration management is largely a federal issue, so what difference does it make who you elect to state office when it comes to immigration?<\/br><\/br>\n\nWell, state government affects federal government in the big picture through things like redistricting and managing elections.<\/br><\/br>\n\nIn a more immediate sense, though, our state legislature shapes how federal legislation plays out on the ground. For example, we can decide to use our state law enforcement to lean into the current deportation-heavy federal approach.\u00a0 Or, we can limit how much local systems are used for federal enforcement.\u00a0 This affects whether people trust law enforcement on the local level and whether crimes get reported.<\/br><\/br>\n\nAlso, we get to decide how we want to spend our state money. \u201cProject Lonestar\u201d doesn\u2019t have to be about razor wire and detention centers.\u00a0 It could be about providing local infrastructure support so that people can be received and processed legally more quickly. It could be about providing language and skill building for folks so that, when they do get the OK to be here legally and work, they are ready to go.<\/br><\/br>\n\n\nAnd beyond policy, we can use our voice.\n\n<\/br><\/br>\n\nAs state legislators, our voices are amplified. We can push for an immigration system that is not just reactive\u2014but intentional. One that looks ahead to what is possible, instead of stirring up fear and prejudice.\n\n<\/br><\/br>\n\nI think the federal government would have a hard time ignoring that kind of voice. If we elect state legislators who are willing to speak up for common sense, humane, immigration reform they will have to start listening if they expect to keep their jobs.\n\n<\/br><\/br>\n\nIf you agree, I hope you will vote for me, Ashley Bean Thornton, for the Texas House. \u00a0Let\u2019s build the Texas \u2014 and the USA \u2014 we want.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Why are we making life harder for people who are making our lives better? \u00a0I’m Ashley Bean Thornton, and I am running for the Texas House of Representatives, House District 56.\u00a0 If you like what I have to say, and you live in HD 56, I hope you will vote for me in November 2026.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":2765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Why are we making life harder for people who are making our lives better?","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-immigration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2797"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2830,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions\/2830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}