Those who favor legalizing millions of illegal aliens say
one true thing; most Americans ancestors came to America when everyone was
welcome.
The problem is that America has changed since those days;
changed in ways that make the old immigration model suicidal for America. The three key ways in which America has
changed are:
-
Many immigrants no longer feel they need to assimilate and accept the key
aspects of public life in America; speaking English, the Ten Commandments—as
defining morality without necessarily believing in God--, democracy, etc.
-
Many Americans believe that everyone, including immigrants, have a right to
a good, not just bearable, lifestyle at the expense of society even if they
could work but don’t.
-
While America is still a land of opportunity it is no longer as much of a
land of opportunity for people with few skills and little or no education as it
used to be.
In the past people came to America with the idea that they
could keep their culture at home but that they would have to assimilate in
public. No one, as recently as the
1960’s, thought that ballots should be printed in multiple languages or that it
was societies obligation to accommodate immigrants. Rather it was the
obligation of immigrants to figure out how to fit into society.
America was never a melting pot-- Italian Americans, Polish Americans, and
WASPS will always be different—but it was a place where everyone agreed to
certain common beliefs; including being loyal to America not wherever they came
from.
Sadly too many new would be immigrants, and their liberal enablers, don’t
believe that being an American requires agreeing to some common things. The illegal immigrants who declare that it’s
their “right” to come to America and collect welfare for example.
But Jesus was not just describing Hell when He said that a house divided
against itself cannot stand. America cannot stand if too many “Americans” first
loyalty is either to themselves—“what benefits can I get from the
government?”-- or to their country of origin.
Another key difference is that when most American’s
ancestors came over it was with the understanding that they would support
themselves or, if a dire need arose, they would depend on the freely given
donations of friends, extended family, or their church. No one came to America expecting the
government would pay for their food, shelter, and medical care.
Today too many would be immigrants believe that once they manages to physically
set foot in America the government has an obligation to take care of them. Liberals support this because they generally
don’t understand where the government gets its money.
The reality is that every welfare dollar spent on immigrants
is a dollar taken out of the pockets—directly or indirectly—of hard working
Americans. American families have to send their children to cheaper colleges, work
more hours, or live in less safe neighborhoods because the money they earned
which could have helped make their own lives better is taken by the government.
We’ve seen the consequences of mixing immigration with
welfare. A hard working immigrant who is
pulling his weight in America may bring his elderly parents over and now
American families are paying for the health care of people who give nothing to
the country. It’s one thing to ask Americans to voluntarily contribute to
efficient charities to help immigrants who are in a temporary financial crunch
but it’s quite another to tell Americans to give to the bloated Federal
bureaucracy, which will then toss a bit to the immigrants, or face jail. Given
that taxes are taken under threat of imprisonment they should not be used to
make liberals feel good about themselves.
The simple reality is that America can’t put the world on welfare and we have
no obligation to let anyone who can sneak across the border get a free ride for
life.
The final difference is that in modern America there are not
a whole lot of unskilled jobs waiting to be filled. When low skilled immigrants
are allowed in they will compete with the poorest of Americans. It’s interesting that the same liberals who
condemn companies for offshoring jobs to the third world have no problem
bringing the third world to America; maybe because most liberals need gardeners
but don’t need to reduce a businesses expenses in order to turn a profit.
Given the amazingly high unemployment figures for American minorities, Black
unemployment is 13.8% because the liberal school system has failed to give poor
Blacks the skills they need, bringing in millions of new unskilled immigrants
is either racist or totally uncaring.
But immigrants who fit into the old model, they only want a chance to succeed
on their own, are a great asset for America.
How do we welcome those who have what it takes to belong here while
keeping out the moochers?
The first step in fixing immigration is to stop forcing people who just want to
work in America from having to become citizens.
A guest worker program would solve most of the current problems with
illegal immigration. It would allow
workers to come to America, earn a fair wage, pay taxes, and not have to hide
from the law. Because the workers aren’t
breaking the law they can’t be exploited by unscrupulous employers who want
cheap labor. Additionally because the workers have the same expenses—taxes,
medical care—as Americans they can’t undercut Americans, especially minorities,
by being willing to work for less. Since these guest workers are not citizens
there would be no welfare expenses, other than for emergency medical care,
associated with them.
A guest worker program has the added benefit of not forcing those who dislike
America, but like American money, from having to become citizens and thereby
increasing the divisions in America.
We can treat those who wish to become Americans the same way most Americans
ancestors were treated; sink or swim.
Neither immigrants nor their families would be entitled to any government
benefits—welfare, Obamacare,etc-- for 20 years after they became citizens—potentially
with a few very narrow exceptions.
If the immigrant couldn’t cut it he could either rely on
private charity, which would be encouraged to help those folks who just needed
a helping hand, or they could go back to where they came from—with the US
providing a free ticket if necessary.
For those who broke the law to get to America there needs to be an additional
punishment. They can’t vote for at least 15 years after being “legalized”. By
then if they’ve supported themselves they can be trusted to vote as Americans
not criminals voting to increase their welfare benefits. This is not so cruel
given that American felons can never vote.
Our ancestors took great risks to come to America in order to make a better
life for themselves and their families.
The sink or swim approach would impose no burden on those who wish to be
American citizens today than was born by the ancestors of current American
citizens.
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