I attended most of all three days of the conference. To get me to travel from Independence three days in a row is some sort of tribute in itself. Especially in view of the fact I drove home from the Plenary session in a fit of despair.

Ray Marshall, Secretary of Labor under Jimmy Carter, made a scholarly, reasoned, experience guided presentation intent on fixing the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. Most of his effort can be seen in McCain's attempts at immigration reform. Almost everyone agrees the IRCA is badly broken and attempts to reform immigration have fared no better. Senator Richard Burr in the closing plenary made a thoughful attempt to explain why Comprehensive Immigration Reform went down (he voted against it for economic reasons). In the end he simply said the issue was "too hot for politicians to handle" and that it was our turn (the audience) to take up the ball. President Bush entered the vacuum and the Administration announced on August 10th that they would undertake Immigration Reform using the powers they already possessed. It deserves a closer read than I will summarize here but it essentially relies on enhancing the barriers at the border and increasing pressure on undocumented persons and the employers who hire them.

Let me start with how I see the situation.

It is large. Estimates run from 12 to 20 million people reside in the United States without documentation.

It is economically "natural". They are here not because they want to make your life or mine miserable but because we need them and we will pay them. This is entirely consistent with the engine of global economic growth - the exploitation of cheap labor. We may not like that - it is merely "true".

It is mean. They are under increasing threat of arrest and deportation. They are vulnerable in the workplace, insecure in their homes, and face barriers to health care and education.

It will continue. In spite of the escalation of enforcement on the border and inflation in the cost of retaining a guide (coyote), hundreds of people pay with their lives each year.

It is contrary to the human spirit. It becomes convenient to blame the increasingly uphill battle to provide for ourselves and our families on the most tenuous and vulnerable class in our society. Acts of compassion have become crimes.

I am not entirely sure how I got to this position but I have arrived at a simple and I believe compelling solution.

Border. Grant 60 day visas to everyone who presents a valid passport from their county at every port of entry. Request documentation of intended residence and evidence of a return ticket.

Residents. Grant every person who presents themselves for documentation at a local court, a 60 day temporary visa.

Grant everyone on temporary visas the opportunity to obtain a drivers license and insurance and access to basic health care and education and an ITIN so they can pay their taxes.

Administratively, this will be a nightmare but... we will soon know who and where migrants live. Uninspected border crossings will diminish and a presumption that something is amiss in their background more valid.

The positive consequences are manifold.

We as Americans can recapture our self image as compassionate and welcoming in keeping with our history and the restoration of our faith in Lady Liberty. We can go back to church with genuine revival in that we understand the call to "faith, hope and charity", A more complete understanding of Paul's declaration that "In Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew", in Jesus' sermon at Nazareth that we should bring "good news to the poor, bind up the broken hearted, free the oppressed ..." As Buddhists we can reread the metta sutta in a fresh light and understand why and how the monks of Burma talk of their compassion spreading out before them as they march for freedom and dignity, as all children of Abraham who are called to hospitality and admonished to :let out the ropes. Maybe, just maybe, we might feel a bit more human and share the African notion of Ubuntu - I am who I am because of who we all are".

If that were not enough, the more worldly issues are all positive. Immigrants will pay their taxes, strive to assimilate and to be good neighbors. Our corporations will still have access to labor although they will no longer find it quite so easy to explot. The health and education of our citizenry will improve as a whole.

I am not sure how I got to this position. I wear the label of a bleeding heart liberal protestant Christian with enthusiasm so I did not have as far to go as some. I think I started near this position as a child but I took passports, visas, work permits, border crossings, luggage inspections and the whole lot as a "fact of life".

I do have an abiding intellectual curiosity. I study. I will till the day I die. It has evolved into a sabbath practice where I set aside a significant amount of time each week devoted to working through numerous issues.

I have my sacred texts. The Authorized Version is prominent among them but so is Whitman, Emerson, Thoreau (these people make me proud to be an American). I have reread the Tao more times than I can count. I read Rumi and the Sufi mystics. I read the sutras of Buddha and the prose of Thich and the Dalai Lama. I watch BookTV on the weekends and LinkTV daily. I am in love with Amy Goodman. I was recently enlightened about Paul by Gary Wills. The list goes on.

I have other materials. A quiet place on the porch, a statue of Pachamama, an icon of Jesus Pantocrator, a statue of Jotai (the happy buddha). Two terriers who constantly demonstrate affection and the need for love. A loving wife even though she is not reticent about enumerating my short comings. A mother in her autumn years. Colleagues who never cease to amaze me with their humanity and sacredness. This list goes on too.

I have my methods. Principal among them is just sitting where I attempt to toss off the tethers of my ego. I have spent a lifetime meditating on the Lord's Prayer, the sermon at Nazareth and the the sermon on the mount. I have recently added several of Paul's hymns. An old practice of reciting the mantra of Nichiren. and two two word prayers I got from Anne Lamott - "Thank you!" and "Help me!"

But I think I can justify my proposal on simple reason. We have lots of work to do. The immigration mess is an artifact of bad policy and inept administration. We fix some things that are broken but others we simply sweep up and discard in the trash can - current immigration policy and administration is one of those.

Among the issues crying out for attention is our penal system. If I have held your attention thus far, ask me for my thoughts on reform of the Criminal Justice System.