The world according to me. I am a conservative, middle aged husband and father. These are my opinions on how to make the world a better place. Feel free to post questions or problems and I'll give you my unqualified advice.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

The immigration mess

MaD dOG sez:

I have watched the immigration rallies over the last few weeks and I am concerned. To me, there are several things that just don't make sense:

1. Why do people that break the law to enter this country think they deserve any rights or benefits from that action? "I'm here now so I must deserve something!" just doesn't fly with me. The fact that the United States has been providing abundant social services to illegals for decades has resulted in an entitlement mentality. Bottom line... Rights of United States citizenship should only be granted to United States citizens. Privileges of United States citizenship should only be granted to United States citizens or legal immigrants.

2. While the United States does require and benefit tremendously from our immigrant workforce, we do NOT require or benefit from an illegal workforce. If there are jobs that only immigrants are willing to do (and I'm not sure that there are any), we should make sure that we only use legally documented immigrants. I know that this will result in less exploitation of these migrant workers, and that could lead to higher prices for some goods. So be it.

3. Why does anyone think that the US Government can administer a "Guest Worker" program more effectively than it administers a "Student Visa" program?

4. Any immigration plan that does not secure our borders will fail.

5. Any immigration plan that allows illegal aliens to remain in the country or be placed on a path to citizenship is rewarding illegal behavior and therefore will encourage more bad behavior. It should not be tolerated by legal citizens of the United States.

6. Immigrants should try to balance an appreciation of American culture with a celebration of their native culture. I think that marching with a Mexican flag at a "American Citizenship Now" rally is stupid. Likewise, the spanish version of the National Anthem is silly. I don't believe either should be criminalized. (Think first ammendment)

7. The immigration process should be overhauled. It should be made faster and easier within the constraints of homeland security. Official documents should be made more difficult to forge. We should make it easier for legal immigrants to enter the country and make it easier to identify those that are willing to obey our laws. Employers that then hire illegal or undocumented workers should be heavily penalized.

8. Border security and immigration enforcement should be overhauled. Temporarily placing National Guard or US Armed Forces at the border is key. Increasing the number of Border Patrol agents drastically is another step. Dept of Homeland Security and INS should have a mechanism to monitor temporary immigrants and remove them if they overstay their Visas.

9. Why do people think that the nation that put a man on the moon can't remove 11 million illegal aliens? It may not be quick and easy, but it sure as hell can be done!

10. Why don't more American citizens protest against the demands of these illegals? Why don't we hear more about our contempt for our government representatives as they cower in fear of the power of these immigrants? We should be ashamed of ourselves.