First, a disclaimer: my family includes many immigrants. Both my parents were German- born, and I have two daughters-in-law who were born outside the U.S.A (Nicaragua and Australia). Thus, any tendency to be less than Draconian with the problem of illegal immigrants might be chalked up in part to this fact. On the other hand, there is a large measure of self-interest for us all in admitting as many immigrants as we need to keep our economy growing at an optimal rate.
One sad fact about our country is that we are killing off a lot of our own native-born talent, due to the abortion holocaust imposed by political liberals, largely Democrats. This plague has had the cumulative effect of eliminating by abortion an estimated 45,000,000 potential workers from our midst- workers who undoubtedly would have sharply reduced the need and availability of jobs for the approximately 12,000,000 illegal immigrants currently in our midst. So, at least in part, I believe that the massive influx of Hispanics we are experiencing is partly related to our national selfishness in killing almost four times as many of our own children as there are illegal immigrants. In that sense, the illegal immigrants are taking the place of our own unborn children. In order to keep our social benefits (eg. Social Security) solvent, we must consider targeted immigration as not only tolerable, but essential to a future in which there will very likely be shortages of labor, and severe shortages of skilled labor.
That being said, it is definitely in our interest to admit the workers with the skills needed to staff our economy. Sadly, the current policy imposed in the 1960’s by Ted Kennedy & Company has the perverse effect of preferentially admitting the least skilled among those who wish to emigrate to the U.S. The miniscule quotas for Europeans is doing us a significant disservice One example is the sizable number of illegal Irish immigrants, who are culturally and linguistically very compatible with our own culture. We need to find a way to reqularize the status of at least some of these individuals. Muslims and other potentially hostile groups are being admitted without adequate scrutiny. A total concentration on admitting relatives and extended family members to benefit relatives who have already been admitted has resulted in the exclusion of many talented potential immigrants who do not have family connections. And immigrants, especially illegal ones, are given too many free passes when they abuse our system by committing crimes, and not being deported. We need to become much more realistic about deportation of undesirables.
New legislation is thus overdue. We need an immigration policy that targets the most talented people we can find. One very successful program was the admission of technically skilled workers from behind the Iron Curtain during the cold war, to cite one example. The United States is perhaps the one country that has benefited most from worldwide communism in the 20th century, because of the perverse consequences of social engineering by Communist regimes that resulted in a huge transfer of talent from communism to capitalism..
We need to reinforce our border with Mexico and set up a quota system of, say, 50,000 to 100,000 per month (about the same as the number of abortions in the U.S.), admitting the most talented individuals available. A probable severe shortage of technically skilled individuals in the Mexican workforce would be one likely result. That would go a long way toward cooling off the Mexican government’s posturing about getting more perks for the illegals already here, and it would lead to a more realistic attitude to emigration on Mexico’s part. We also need a policy of summary deportation of undesirables. One felony or serious misdemeanor, and they should be deported.
We also need to eliminate the birthright citizenship that has been traditional in the U.S. We need to be able to deport the child of the woman, for example, who crosses the U.S.-Mexican border to have a child, then claims citizenship rights on that basis The fact that someone is here illegally creates no obligation on our part to confer citizenship on that person and offspring. If we choose to, we can permit such persons to stay and work, but citizenship should not be an obligation or an inevitability.
Which brings us to the immigration bill currently under consideration in Congress. There is, to date, no hard copy of the legislation, It is available only in electronic format. From the sources I have read describing the bill, there are provisions for making the illegals’ status legal by requiring a return to the home country, and paying a $5,000 fine, before legitimization can be considered. This is a considerable burden, which seems to me to be excessive. A better alternative might be to permit the illegals to apply for an immigration permit, the same as others in Mexico who wish to come in as new arrivals. If they aren’t competitive enough to be given entry permits when compared with other candidates, we should not feel compelled to legitimize their status or confer citizenship.
The guest worker program will permit three visas of two years’ duration for a total of six years. Whether or not that is sufficient to meet our needs for well trained and qualified labor is not clear. It seems that a longer period of time would be better, rather than send the workers back to their home country a few years after they have acquired job skills that make them valuable in the U.S. This would create a repetitive cycle of job training with the country of origin reaping more benefit than the U.S.
As to the potential loyalty of the immigrants, legal and illegal, I can offer some anecdotal evidence. I have observed reactions of Hispanics at fiestas at a local church, where toasts were made to the various Hispanic countries of origin, eliciting polite applause. To the toast “Viva America!” there was a thunderous standing ovation that lasted several minutes. In my view the great majority of Hispanics are good, hardworking people who in their heart of hearts love the U.S. I have seen their children on numerous occasions prefer English language TV shows over Spanish language ones. The children often don’t seem to enjoy going back to their parents’ country enough that they would want to stay there. Mexican kids in my wife’s ESL classes by and large would be just as happy if they never saw Mexico again, just as many of our own ancestors had no desire to return to Ireland or Italy or Scotland or England or Germany. Not that they didn’t love their native country- they just didn’t want to be there and endure the poverty and/or oppression that was part of the world they had left. As a port of refuge for many, if not most, foreign-born youths, particularly Mexicans, the U.S. is all they have, in their own minds.
The problem with criminal types and islamofascists is quite another matter. We need to enforce our border security and assess any potential threats posed by border crossers. For example, there is special reason to be wary of Arabs and Asians who feel compelled to go to Mexico first in order to get into the U.S.A. This is another excellent reason to erect a border fence and enforce compliance with border crossing regulations.
As to the fear that Hispanics would swear long term fealty to the Democrat Party, I am more optimistic than the dour predictions of some of the talk show hosts seem to predict. The Hispanics have a generally conservative outlook that fits well with Republican values, and they, as a minority just beginning to acculturate, will eventually find Republican values more to their liking that the nanny-state socialist/liberal outlook of the other party. The best way to ensure that Hispanics do affiliate with us is to be courteous and friendly in our dealings with Hispanics. That will go far to make them feel comfortable casting their lot with us.
The Chinese writing system depicts the concept “crisis” by combining the symbols for “danger” and “opportunity.” That is, I believe, a fair description of the immigration crisis that faces present-day America. Danger from uncontrolled entry of dubious persons, in combination with a wonderful opportunity to provide for the future growth and stability of America. God grant us the wisdom to be able to separate the two elements.
|