Open letter to United States Congress
Is
America's immigration system broken?
An often repeated statement by our U.S. Congressional
representatives (mostly Democrats) is our immigration system is broken and
needs to be repaired.
Nearly
700,000 alien residents became American citizens in each of the past 10
years. It would appear the existing
immigration laws seem to be working.
To
qualify for naturalization as a U.S. citizen, these 700,000 alien residents had
to first secure "legal" residency by obtaining a Green Card. They must show evidence of financial
responsibility, no criminal record and be in good health. After five years (three years if married to a
U.S. citizen) of trouble free residency, they can apply for naturalization by
filing a form N-400 or N-600 (if under the age of 18). This is followed by an interview and a
citizenship test to determine the ability to speak, read and write English
followed by a 100 question test on the history and government of the U.S.
After meeting all these requirements, they
must take an "Oath of Allegiance" part of which reads: ". . . I absolutely and
entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince,
potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a
subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of
the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. . ."
Possibly, you folks think the system is broken because it
takes too long to become a citizen. Or
possibly, you might feel that rushing across the border to have a child in our
country should not entitle that child to be a citizen UNLESS at least one parent is already a U.S. citizen. If so,
I agree.
Conversely, we can conclude all those persons who went
through the current naturalization process have determined they WANT to be in our country and we can
rely upon them to stick around in hard times; whereas, an illegal that we have
pandered to and given all these benefits "for free" will most likely run back
home to his native country in times of stress!
I draw your attention to Europe's immigration
problems. They are now discussing
putting up massive fences because neighboring people are refusing to stand up
and fight for their land and their rights.
Instead it is easier to run. From
a national standpoint, our armed forces have discovered that no amount of military
training in Iraq could inspire those people to fight for their homeland. -
under stress, they ran away.
I submit the real question here is not whether our
immigration system is broken - but what type of individual do we want as our
next door neighbor? Is he a Patriot or a
person whose allegiance belongs to another country?
Because we have more than 11 million
illegal aliens (aka "undocumented immigrants" ) in this country, does
this mean our immigration system is broken?
Some
might recall former President Ronald Reagan's 1987 amnesty program for 1.4
million illegal aliens also included a requirement for employers to verify
legal status of their employees which involved two forms of identification -
one, of which, had to include a picture.
Common
sense might lead one to believe verification of legal status would eliminate
the continued violation of America's immigration laws. If an illegal cannot secure a job, he cannot
survive, but the better argument is that if word gets out that the U.S. is
enforcing its immigration laws to include employers, then it follows the only
path into America is by securing some form of legal entry - so what happened?
No one bothered to enforce the law!
Obviously,
if more than 11 million illegals crossed our borders in the 28 years since the
Reagan amnesty, the employer check of legal status simply did not work because
no one bothered to enforce the law.
Immigration
enforcement can also occur when an illegal gets in trouble with the law. Arizona was criticized for "racial profiling"
because a traffic ticket could result in an illegal being turned over to
federal authorities. In August of 2012,
California passed "The Trust Act" (subsequently vetoed by Governor Brown) which
encouraged local authorities to ignore the Obama Administration's "Secure
Communities Program" by failing to send fingerprints to federal immigration
agents for review unless the detention was a major felony.
Theoretically,
a traffic ticket and the lack of a driver's license, could lead to deportation
of an illegal, but might, as well, provide a trail back to all those employers
who hired this self-employed, "un-documented" person which would result in a
huge fine. If the average employer or
homeowner uses a driver's license to determine the legal status of those
persons working for them; and, if an illegal can obtain a driver's license
under AB 60, then establishing legal status is deliberately distorted.
Existing
law prohibits the DMV from issuing a driver's license to anyone who cannot
submit satisfactory proof that their presence is authorized under federal
law. And yet, California Assemblyman
Luis Alejo, along with many co-authors, submitted AB 60 which deletes the
requirement of a Social Security number as part of the I.D. requirement and
would allow illegal immigrants to apply for a driver's license even though the
applicant's "presence in the United States is not authorized under federal
law."
I
assume California Democrats support the much criticized Obama "multi point
plan" that would provide temporary immigration relief for a
few million illegals based on the number of years illegally in this country and
possible connection to children born here.
Add to this a new bill by Assemblyman Alejo to provide "undocumented"
farm laborers with work permits in violation of federal immigration enforcement
provisions.
Moreover,
California has provided a path for medical care utilizing Obama-care &
Medicaid - and then there are provisions for educational subsidies specifically
designed to help illegal or "undocumented" children.
Gee,
it would appear, based on the current treatment of illegals, there is no actual
benefit or incentive to apply for American citizenship . . . what for?
It
is little wonder that Donald Trump is generating national support. He is merely stating what has angered most
American citizens.