Our nation has always benefited from the immigrant’s work ethic. From the time the white man was the immigrant to now, when people still come to America to make a go of it, the immigrant’s mark on this country is as profound as it is long-lasting. Those who deny or dismiss the immigrant’s impact have either forgotten history’s lessons or never learned them in the first place.
Practically speaking, laws must reflect the way people live. If they don’t, they’re going to be ignored. This is what is happening with our immigration laws. If we change the laws to reflect the way people are actually living, the number of criminals goes down and the number of legal workers in this country goes up.
We favor letting those here illegally stay. Give them a national identity card and let them do the work they came here to do. When the work dries up, they will stop coming. They can pay taxes and buy homes and cars and generally make themselves useful here. Those worried about them taking jobs from Americans should bear in mind a couple of things. One, immigrants tend to take jobs held by high school dropouts, a segment of the population that is declining. Even it wasn’t, those who didn’t have the gumption to graduate high school deserve what they get. And two, they often take jobs our skilled and educated workforce no longer needs to take.
Those with national ID cards who entered America illegally will be entitled to everything except citizenship. That must be reserved for those who play by the rules. Practically speaking, this will deprive of them of a US passport, the right to vote and the right to have relatives join them in America. OK, that’s still not too bad a deal. Perhaps provisions can be made for applying for citizenship after certain number of years in this country or after reaching a certain age.
As a sovereign nation America has a right, indeed an obligation, to provide secure borders. But there is no reason to chase away those who merely want to build a life for themselves. It’s why the Pilgrims came here in the first place and was the foundation on which America was built.
Gaylon
