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EspañolDo you close the door when you get home? Do you ever lock it? Would you be bothered if someone were to come into your home without your permission? It doesn’t matter whether they planned to ask you for a job or kill you, the fact that they walked into your home without permission — just slung open the front door and walked in and sat on your couch — is enough to be inappropriate if not just plain wrong.
If you agree that your home is yours and you have a right to determine who enters and who does not, then you agree with me on immigration. Instead of a door we have a border, but make no mistake, our countries are our homes. Every nation — Russia, China, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, and the United States — has immigration laws and the right to enforce them.
Most actually do enforce their laws. Some countries, however, are better at it than others, and no country has the kind of immigration problem the United States faces. Years of neglect, porous boarders, dedicated migrants, and even more dedicated criminal organizations have led to an illegal immigrant population of over ten million.
In many ways, the United States is a victim of its own success. Millions of people do not migrate from economically successful countries to second and third world countries of Latin America. Outside of mass migrations due to war and famine, the same is true in Africa and Asia. The United States and its people, however, are not responsible for the continued failure of other countries to improve their situations. Their leaders and policies are to blame.
Detractors might argue that nations are a figment of our imagination and that borders only exist in our minds. They are correct, but the same thing could be said of homeownership, clothing, and cars. We don’t really own these things; we just think we do. Does that mean that you are okay with someone taking your clothes, jewelry, or car? There is no way around it: to cross into another country’s land without the permission of that country is just wrong.
Like so many issues, however, the current state of illegal immigration in the United States is very complicated, and due to its size and scope will not be answered with one simple equation. There are a number of things we can do to make it better. First, repeal welfare and all forms of public assistance, including education for illegal immigrants. Second, charge every state official who issues driver’s licenses or other legal forms of identification to illegal aliens with aiding and abetting, in defiance of law. Also, we must continue to prosecute businesses that hire illegals.
Next, we must make it easier for people to come to the country legally for work. Migrant workers, legal or not, help keep the cost of labor-intensive business low, which in turn helps us all in the pocketbook. Those who are more qualified to work at jobs other than labor intensive or low-wage, blue-collar jobs shouldn’t have a problem getting into the country in the first place.
Finally, we need a one-two punch of securing our borders, with troops if necessary, and an option for illegals currently in the country to become legitimate residents without ever having a chance to be citizens. They would not have to leave, start from the beginning, and come back in the right way.
Those who are here illegally who are given an opportunity to work should be required to pay a fine and double taxation for the remainder of their stay. This is not amnesty. This is simply recognizing that rounding up millions of people and shipping them off to their home countries would be an expensive and nearly impossible task.
While much is made about immigrant rights, land owners on the border with Mexico have suffered damage to their property and crops, even death, for years. Illegal immigrants are victims of “coyotes” who march them through the desert and sometimes in crowded trucks, leaving some to die, before reaching their promised land. They are also easy targets for drug traffickers and other criminals.
Furthermore, not all migrants are here for the right reasons. Some are here purely to engage in criminal activity.
Before you congratulate the Democratic Party for its “open-minded” stance on illegal immigration, remember that many of their leaders once thought exactly as I do. The only reason they changed was their belief that most Hispanic migrants would be more likely to vote for the donkey party. They are selling out the United States and US Americans just to get more votes.
How can we expect our own citizens to obey the rule of law, when so many governments and political groups around the country are validating those who came here illegally in the first place? Fixing immigration must be a top priority, but it cannot be done without respecting the rule of law and the right to close the door if we want to.
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