The United States is a nation of immigrants and will always be a haven for those who want an opportunity for a better life. However, immigration has become a divisive issue in our country. Let’s look at some of the aspects of this issue.
Positions on how we as a nation deal with current immigration problems vary widely: from total isolation to open borders; from tight restrictions to no restrictions on the provision of services.
Some groups address the issue by promoting anger and hatred towards the United States and its non-minority population under the banner of restoring the Southwest to its rightful ownership. They forget that every nation in the world is a nation of immigrants, and that identifying the original inhabitants of any place in the world is a near impossibility. We would have to go back thousands of years, and documents don’t exist that far back.
Our education system, by direct or indirect means, promotes the thought that large groups of people are victims, and in doing so divides the community. They blame taxpayers and ignore the fact that U.S. taxpayers are very willing to help others. We provide more money and help to our own citizens and to other countries than any nation on earth. (Parenthetically, we also do more volunteer and charitable work than any other citizens on earth.) Clearly, paying more taxes will not gain appreciation. The people who are denying services to others are the increasing numbers of those competing for a piece of the pie.
They also forget that every time you provide a permanent source of money to solve a temporary problem, you turn it into a permanent problem. We have created a nation of permanent victims. An atmosphere of specious entitlement, which by legislation attempts to redress grievances of the past at the expense of the present, causes more division among the community.
Responding to frustrations and fears, real or imagined, other groups react to years of compromise and neglect. Attempts are made to restrict access to education, healthcare and other social services in order to protect limited resources.
As the unchecked population continues to flood the limited job market, it causes those on the lower levels of employment to suffer the loss of a wage base or of benefits.
Special interest groups see the immigration issue as a vehicle to increase their influence and power.
Some employers see the opportunity to lower overhead and depress wages for those who are willing to work for less. All parties involved promote a negative effect on employees, most of whom are of the same ethnic background.
Government’s Responsibility
A sovereign country has the right and the responsibility to secure its borders. In securing its borders a country can and must use any legal method available to accomplish this vital task.
Government has the responsibility to provide for the security and safety of its people and institutions. The first obligation of the government must be to those who by birth or legal avenues are entitled to services, education, employment or financial considerations.
The right to vote is one which came at great cost and is still not available to millions throughout the globe. This precious right cannot and must not be diminished by those who, for selfish reasons, would ignore its value.
All countries are obligated to provide basic services, education, and job opportunities to their citizens. It is unfair to expect the United States to do the job that other countries fail to do.
The Consequences of Uncontrolled Borders
For every compromise, there is a negative result. Unlimited access to the U.S. removes burdens from the shoulders of other governments and places them on the shoulders of our own children. How can this possibly be fair? Our own children, who have the right to receive the best we can provide, endure larger class sizes, fewer class offerings, higher college fees, and diminished opportunities.
Uncontrolled population growth causes the need for more and more schools. The effort to provide schools has spurred an endless line of tax-raising schemes and the confiscation of homes and businesses to acquire land in residential neighborhoods. In spite of this, our schools are filled to capacity, preventing our youngest citizens from attending school in their own neighborhood.
At the community college level, the number of those refused entry due to filled capacity is in the thousands. Attendance fees are increased. Access to grants, scholarships and loan programs are limited to a certain number, and the result is a system which discriminates against those who should be the first considered for those limited funds.
We want the best for all children, but is it right for our own children to be deprived in order to service children neglected by other countries?
Our health care system is another example of the consequences of carelessly monitored borders. Due to massive cuts and a lack of proper planning, many facilities have cut services or closed. The result has been a disaster to our communities. In the past fifteen years 40% of the hospitals in the San Fernando Valley have closed. Clinic after clinic has closed. County hospitals have inhumane emergency room processing times. This loss of treatment is closely followed by the loss of jobs. The costs of treating illegal immigrants is estimated to be $320,000,000 per year at the county level alone. The cost to the private sector is still being totaled.
The effects on public safety can only be estimated, but there are facts which cannot be denied: Twenty-five percent of those incarcerated in the Los Angeles jail system are in this country illegally. These individuals are not being held on grounds of their immigrant status. They have committed crimes for which they have been or are being convicted. What are the results of a 25% inmate population influx? Due to limited space, inmates are not required to serve a full or fair portion of their sentence. These criminals are released back into our communities and, with limited or meaningless deterrents; prey on our citizens with little regard for the consequences.
Our police officers and limited enforcement resources are stretched to the maximum, causing calls for assistance to either go unanswered or result in unacceptable waiting periods. Mexican nationals who commit capital crimes and flee to Mexico cannot be extradited back to the United States. However, those who commit non-capital crimes can be returned, so there is an incentive for criminals to avoid extradition by committing more severe crimes.
A real, but seldom mentioned, consequence is the culture which exists in the world of those living in the shadows of illegality. They are prey to human vultures that rape, rob, murder and leave them for dead in an isolated desert or mountain terrain. On a routine basis, individuals are found dead of exposure or abandoned in locked trucks or trailers.
These conditions are rarely addressed by those who propose legislation to gain the support of special interest groups. Nor will they be solved by the political schemes of such vested interests.
Addressing the Problems of Immigration
There is no clear and easy solution to the problems of immigration, but there are beginnings which can and must be implemented.
· First of all, secure our southern border. We must have and implement the options of stationary deterrents, law enforcement and military personnel.· Interior enforcement must also be implemented. We cannot have millions of unidentified non-citizens in our country.· A viable method of identification must be developed for non-citizens. This involves walking a careful line to avoid requiring a national identity card for valid citizens. Totalitarian governments are notorious for requiring national identity cards. · In finding a way to identify non-citizens, we must not rely on governments who stand to gain by exporting their unwanted or under-served populations. · A humane but determined program of deportation must be enacted. This program must not be influenced by groups who place their own special interests ahead of the country’s well-being. · Attempts by local governments, city councils, county supervisors, and police administrators to circumvent federal regulations must be challenged and overridden. · Funding for projects which are in direct opposition to the rule of law must be challenged and deterred. · Institutions which are funded by public monies must be required to stop using public funding for non-emergency programs and services for illegal aliens. · A centrally-located system to process new citizenship applications must be established to ensure and encourage the process of legal entry.· Employers, who violate the law by their hiring practices, must be deterred and held accountable.· A full review of current procedures must be implemented to determine their effectiveness and future need.
Our current process of reacting to immigration issues is so disjointed that in trying to be all things to all people we are short-changing our own citizens. Implementing the above steps will be a powerful start to bringing cohesiveness to this issue. Clarity and cohesive action will bring positive results for all.
