Daniel Handler

Because immigration is messy and needs a leader who gets it

Like a lot of people, when I hear the word immigration, I think of my family. My father came to this country when he was a child. He traveled with his mother and his little brother. Like a lot of people, they came to America in pursuit of a better life. But that’s a pretty tame way to say they were fleeing from Nazi terror. Often, when you’re pursuing a better life, someone else is pursuing you.

As far as I know, my family fled here legally. But what does that mean? Any country in turmoil is tricky to leave. What did my grandmother do to get her sons out? Did she bribe somebody to get to the front of the line? Bribery is illegal. Or maybe she lied on an official form, the sort you’re not allowed to lie on. She brought diamonds with her, too. She hid them in the heel of her shoe. Maybe that was illegal, or maybe she was just hiding them from the people who might take them. If that happened, to whom would she have complained, in pursuit of justice?

So I don’t know exactly what she did. I just know that the situation was so desperate that she would have done anything. So many members of my family couldn’t get out. The borders were closed—theirs, and also ours. Some of these lost relatives were reportedly really funny, and good cooks. We have people like that in America already. But we could always, I think, use some more.

If I knew how to fix our immigration mess, I wouldn’t be writing children’s books. The mess is real. It’s a real mess. I don’t know if everyone fleeing from terror can come here, or how we decide that, what the legalities are. But I want the conversation led by someone who opens by thinking and talking about her own family, rather than a faceless crowd of enemies; someone who understands that most people would do anything for their families, not for their own glory. Let’s start there. Let’s start with Kamala Harris.

Daniel Handler is the author of eight books under his own name, most recently the memoir, And Then, And Then, What Else? and, as Lemony Snicket, far too many books for children.