News and Views

What Don’t They Understand About the Word “Illegal”?
by Ray Chadwick

The United States is a nation of immigrants. Ancestors of the Native Americans are believed to have emigrated from Asia 35,000 years ago, when land joined the continents where the Bering Sea is today.

The United States has been successful because of our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the opportunities offered to free enterprise and hard work, and a common culture that lead people around the world to dream of immigrating here to become … Americans.

It wasn’t easy for immigrants to fit in, learn English, improve their skills and find better jobs. They had to have sponsors, skills, medical approval and more, before they could step through the exit doors at Ellis Island. Nobody expected that it would be easy. Immigrants from countries as diverse as Great Britain, Ireland, Russia, China, Laos, Poland, and many others have immigrated, become citizens and worked hard to become successful … Americans.

Perhaps the ideal is that “Americans are committed to their country first, to improving its future, to being part of its culture and public discourse, to being free from government interference, to worship as they please, to support their community, and to raise honorable and outstanding citizens.”

New immigrants could fit in if they worked to become “Americans”. In return, America offered the promise that one’s own efforts could meet (or make) opportunities for the “pursuit of happiness”.

Recently, we are being told that the United States has become “anti-immigrant” and racist because citizens are concerned about the growing presence of illegal aliens. They number (depending upon the source and the agenda being promoted) up to 30 million people, or one illegal alien for each nine citizens.

American citizens are not “anti-immigrant”. They support the rule of law, specifically, the laws and procedures allowing those who wish to immigrate here to obtain a visa, or permanent residency, or naturalization. Those who choose not to follow those regulations show disrespect for our laws, our culture and our sovereignty. They are not coming here to participate in becoming Americans, but merely to benefit from our job market, health care, welfare and other benefits.

Americans who swamped switchboards when Congress was debating “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” were not xenophobic, racist or anti-immigrant. They were protesting a legislative initiative to confer legal status upon up to 30 million people who had entered the country illegally.

During the debate on Comprehensive Reform, the press and media worked hard to influence voters, describing illegal aliens as “undocumented immigrants”. This attempt to avoid any negative connotation for illegal immigration is as disingenuous as calling a burglar an “uninvited house guest”.

More subtle is the connotation that we “invited them” because of our burgeoning job market or that we should be thankful for “undocumented workers” who work for less (doing jobs Americans won’t do!) so that we can benefit from the lower cost of lettuce, or drywall installation, or whatever.

If the consequence of having Americans do certain jobs is to make those products more expensive, so be it. In simpler times, unions and politicians could be counted on to denounce corporations that “out-source” American jobs to countries (such as Mexico) where wages were lower. Should we now prefer to bring the foreign workers here and further disadvantage our workers?

Criticism of illegal immigration is also not inherently racist or anti-Mexican. The debate focuses on Mexico because Mexicans (like Canadians) are able to walk across the border and because Mexicans (unlike Canadians) live in a country that seems unable to provide sufficient opportunity and jobs for its citizens.

Congress and the President supported the Comprehensive Immigration Reform. One can wonder what special interests (business, political parties, government employees, farmers, builders, all of the above) they were trying to serve. The initial amnesty for illegal aliens was in 1986, and the government has been lax in enforcing border security since.

The balance between risk and reward influences illegal immigration. Increasing the difficulty of illegally crossing the border, reducing the benefits available to illegal aliens and improving the economic opportunities in Mexico are all necessary. Solving the problem will require considering the following:

Stringent enforcement of current immigration laws
Stronger border security measures such as fences and more border guards
Expedited (same day) deportation for those caught crossing illegally
Deportation of any illegal alien who commits a crime
Stricter eligibility rules to prevent access to unemployment benefits, in-state tuition, social services, etc.
Penalties for employers who knowingly employ illegal persons
Reconsideration of the 14th amendment that grants citizenship to anyone born here, legally or not

Advocates for open borders and unrestricted immigration will continue their efforts in smaller initiatives like the Dream Act and the New York driver’s license program.

This direction will only change if voters continue to demand that our laws be enforced.
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Ray F. Chadwick is a resident of Bedford who is active in promoting conservative and Republican ideals.