Last weekend, the San Antonio Express-News published a terrific column on immigration by MATT Board Member Lou Agnese, the president of the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

Commentary: Nothing to fear from consensus on immigration

By Lou Agnese

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
- Nobel laureate Marie Curie

The immigration debate has been defined by one word: fear. It has driven the incendiary remarks uttered by well-known TV and radio personalities, which oft times border on bigotry, and the sincere, if misinformed, comments from both sides of the political aisle.

Fear that terrorists will be allowed into our country, fear that Americans will lose jobs to immigrants, fear that immigration will cripple our economy and infrastructure.

Fear has led some people to suggest our immigration problems can be solved through the mass deportation of the estimated 12 million people who are here illegally; that’s the equivalent of deporting every man, woman and child in Pennsylvania.