Reacting to defeat suffered when voters rejected many of his policies in the recent election, President Obama intends to use his pen to institute radical changes to the rules governing immigration policy and thereby grant legal status to millions of foreign aliens who have illegally entered our country.
The concept of immigration – the lawful entry into a country that is foreign to the immigrant for the purpose of living and working there – is a generally accepted idea among all peoples. When the word immigration is modified by the adjective “illegal,” the practice loses all pretense of lawfulness and morality.
The United States owes its origin to people who have emigrated from a host of countries and who have established themselves in this new land. Previously, this territory was an unrecognized nation populated by nomadic tribes of natives who vied with each other for control of hunting territories. Known to other colonizing nations as simply “America” or “the New World,” this land became an organized nation when colonialists settled among themselves who should be the governing authority. Finally organized, the nation became known as the United States of America. Since 1776, this nation has been universally recognized by all the countries of the world as the legal, ruling authority.
One commonly recognized right of every country is the setting and controlling of its borders and the determining of those who shall be allowed to immigrate and live under its authority. Immigration policy has functioned with relative smoothness throughout our history, and as a result millions have entered legally to the benefit of the general welfare.
Until recent years, all administrations have kept illegal immigration under relative control. However, in the last 40 years, violations of our policy have allowed somewhere in excess of 30 million “illegals” to live here. These are a drain on our economy. Most do not comply with our tax laws. Most benefit from social welfare to the tune of billions of dollars annually. More recently, droves of minor children have crossed our southern border, encouraged by their homeland governments. Besides, thousands of children of these aliens have gained citizenship by virtue of being born on American soil, adding in this way to the confusion that surrounds immigration policy.
The Washington establishment has recently dumped thousands of alien children into unsuspecting communities, bringing with them the “entero-virus” disease which was previously unknown to our country. School systems are being burdened with unanticipated expenses which the federal government is not shouldering. No one knows the potential criminal element that is being introduced to our country by the many teenaged youth who make up this number.
What to do about these illegals is a political “hot potato” that no one has been able to handle to the satisfaction of everyone. Democrats favor the amnesty of all those who are here illegally because of the political advantage this can eventually bring to their Party. Some Republicans, spurred on by the Chamber of Commerce, see an advantage for business in letting these illegals gain legal status. The moral repercussions of permitting lawbreakers to suddenly swell our population and become immediate recipients of services and privileges provided by the taxes of others are unsustainable. Despite the presumed happiness of other Hispanic citizens at the increase of their population, many Hispanics realize that this invasion of illegals really threatens their jobs and leads to an increase in their taxes.
One argument in favor of legalization that is often heard is that workers are needed to do the jobs that ordinary Americans will not do. Usually, this refers to agricultural jobs that some Americans feel is beneath their dignity. Of course, this need could easily be met by a legal, temporary workers’ program that has long been advocated. These workers would be seasonal and would benefit both themselves and our nation without becoming a tax burden. Such a program should be accompanied by regulations that prevent “anchor babies” born to temporary workers from becoming citizens automatically.
Now President Obama threatens to upend a process that must only be decided constitutionally by Congress, thus engendering more division in our population. By the use of an Executive Order and with the ink of his pen he pretends immediately, albeit unlawfully, to lend legal status to millions of foreigners. While many Americans long for a solution to this decades-old problem, amnesty is a non-solution that has been tried before without success. In the administration of President Ronald Reagan, amnesty was granted to about three million illegals on the condition that our borders would be secured and future illegal entry would be ended. In fact, the borders were not secured, and this has resulted in the present situation we now face.
A solution that is both compassionate and legal would be to seal the border for a period long enough to prove that the illegal flow of immigrants is permanently ended. Demonstrated this, all those who have been living in this country without a criminal violation of our other laws could be granted legal status for living, working, and paying taxes in this country on a permanent basis. In other words, they could obtain a “green card.” One condition would be attached to this accommodation, which is as follows: no one who has entered illegally could ever obtain citizenship unless he should leave the country, be repatriated to his own country, and then apply for citizenship as every other solicitant for citizenship. In other words, he would need to get in the back of the line and enter legally. This proposal represents a compromise that carries some punishment for violators while showing compassion for the families involved.
This ruling would allow adults and their families to stay together. Children who have been brought here as minors with their parents could become citizens once the normal requirements for naturalization are fulfilled or through serving in the military. Children who emigrated without their parents should be repatriated in their home countries with their original families.
Illegals who entered unlawfully as adults would be perpetually denied citizenship and voting rights. The American government would show its mercy to children who are innocent of the crime of illegal entry since they were brought here by their parents, while at the same time it would uphold its laws by denying citizenship to adults who deliberately violated our immigration laws.
The granting of amnesty for illegals can only be a way for one party to gain advantage over the other. Rather than solve a problem, this would engender strife and turmoil and weaken our position as a nation of laws. Only those who seek to weaken the rule of law in this country would be opposed to resolving illegal immigration in this compassionate, yet legal manner.
James West