Once again I am providing you with my most recent commentary for the CAPS (Californians for Population Stabilization) website.
The topic for this commentary is one that is central to the entire immigration debate and has a huge impact on legislative initiatives taken by politicians from both parties and on all levels of our government ranging from city halls across our vast nation, to the state capitals all to the way to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
The issue to which I refer is the utterly false and outrageous claim that politicians who want to curry favor with Latino voters must vote for a wide array of “Pro-Immigrant” bills.
First of all, the term “Immigrant” is often used improperly. This false use of language has a major impact on the debate about immigration and it began way back in the administration of President Jimmy Carter. I recall that as an INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) special agent, I was given unequivocal instructions by my superiors that we were to end the use of the term “Illegal Alien” to describe aliens who were illegally present in the United States! We were initially instructed to use the term “Undocumented Alien” and then, within several weeks the instructions changed and we were told to use the term “Undocumented Worker.”
The U.S. census was conducted during the Carter administration and he ordered that no illegal aliens be arrested without getting clearance from Headquarters! This was a first! It was apparent that he wanted to make certain that as many illegal aliens could be counted to skew the outcome of the census to provide as many Democratic Party seats in the House of Representatives and votes in the Electoral College. While I have great concern about illegal aliens voting, even without casting any ballots, the apportionment of the seats in the House of Representatives essentially provided illegal aliens with representation in our Congress!
I would love to see our Constitution amended so that for purposes of determining representation in Congress, that only United States citizens be counted in the census! I won’t however, hold my breath for that to happen!
The term “Alien” is not a pejorative but is a legal term that is defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) as being “Any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States.”
I defy anyone to find an insult or slur in that definition!
The reason that the open borders anarchists hate the word “Alien” is that it provides clarity to the debates and discussions about immigration and they know that in order to win the arguments they most first overcome some serious impediments. They need to overcome the law, the facts, commonsense and morality! Under such circumstances their only course of action is to lie and hurl accusations- and boy do they ever engage in those activities at every chance they can!
They claim that the term “Alien” is the equivalent of the “N” word!
The “N” word does not show up in the bible, the Constitution or the Immigration and Nationality Act, but the term “Alien” most certainly does!
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is an all inclusive body of law that encompasses all of the laws relating to the entry of aliens into the United States, the circumstances under which they can remain in the United States, seek to become resident aliens or acquire United States citizenship or be deported (removed) from the United States. To be given instructions that contradicted the very laws that we were carefully instructed about during our training infuriated all of us! We also knew that virtually every other country on this planet uses a similar term to describe foreigners who are present on their soil!
Clearly we were entering the George Orwell “Newspeak” Zone and were very unhappy about it!
In my frustration I came to refer to illegal aliens as being “Pre-Citizens” and over time, more and more of my colleagues began to pick up on this term and was elated when one day I answered the phone at the office and the Border Patrol agent on the other end of the phone line asked if I could get my hands on a file relating to a “Pre-Citizen” he had just arrested in Arizona!
To provide clarity to the discussion, the difference between an immigrant and an illegal alien is the equivalent of the difference between a houseguest and a burglar!
Next I want you to consider how the open borders anarchists claim that it is “Pro-Immigrant” to reward aliens who violate our nation’s borders and our nation’s immigration laws by providing them with a “Pathway to citizenship.” Often they will talk about how these illegal aliens pay taxes and are an asset to a community. What they fail to note is that often illegal aliens commit identity theft that creates utter havoc with the lives whose identities are stolen! They neglect to talk about how illegal aliens send tens of billions of American dollars back to their home countries to support their families.
The money that is drained from our economy is money that is not earned by American citizens or lawful immigrants. This is money that is not spent in America and money that is not invested in America. This is money that should be circulating throughout our economy but is utterly lost to our economy. This is the equivalent of a homeowner who has a swimming pool and living in the time of an extreme drought. He pumps his pool full of precious water but neglects to close the drain at the bottom of the pool. The next day he puts on his bathing suit and cannot wait to dive into his pool only to find it is bone dry!
As you may know, I often travel around the United States to participate in panel discussions and debates on immigration. I cannot tell you how often lawful immigrants or thei children approach me and tell me how angry they are that while it took them or their parents a long time and a huge effort to follow the laws to legally immigrate to the United States, they are furious that illegal aliens have come to expect that they are entitled to whatever they want even though they violated a series of laws to enter the United States and remain and work in the United States! This is the reality about how so many lawfully admitted members of the immigrant communities feel about the lunacy that passes for immigration policy these days!
Our nation’s immigration laws are intended to protect American lives and American jobs. Aliens who violate those laws and the system that should be operating effectively to enforce those laws create a grave risk to the lives and well being of our citizens, our lawful immigrants and our nation.
This is not a complex concept- this is commonsense! But then who actually expects our politicians to demonstrate commonsense our decency? The frustration that most Americans feel about Congress and politicians can, no doubt, be traced to the insane idea that it is “Pro-Immigrant” to reward illegal immigration!
Why should anyone abide by the law when our government wants to reward millions of law violators who may well pose a threat to the safety and well being to our nation and our citizens?
Show me a politician who refuses to enforce the immigration laws or attempts to trivialize these laws, and I will show you a politician who needs to find out what it is like to stand on the unemployment line!
Benjamin Franklin, in discussing our then fledgeling nation. said that they had given us a republic if we could keep it!
What he was making clear was that this democratic republic required that its citizens take their citizenship seriously and keep the political leaders accountable.
It is time for the citizens of our nation to make certain that our nation’s leaders, on all levels, to come to terms with the fundamental fact that the purpose of our immigration laws is to protect our nation and our citizens from aliens whose presence has the potential to have a serious adverse impact. Ignoring those laws exposes our nation and our citizens to a variety of serious threats and challenges ranging from national security and criminal justice and public safety to the economy, the environment, healthcare and education!
A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!
If our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the “American Dream” the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!
We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm’s way in defense of this nation and our citizens.
My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings *before* more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.
The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.
If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same. We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”
The practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there.
For far too long our citizens demonstrated apathy which emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups.
It is therefore understandable that the politicians of both parties, are greatly concerned about the demonstrations currently sweeping our nation just as did the creation of the Tea Party. Clearly more and more of our fellow Americans are demonstrating that they are not as dumb as the politicians from both parties had expected us to be!
I am encouraged that more and more of us, We the People, are not willing to simply sit on the sidelines anymore!
I believe our nation’s is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world. However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels or members of other transnational gangs or members of al-Qaeda!
I also believe that the original purpose of our nation’s immigration laws need to be be brought “front and center” to make certain that our nation does not permit the entry of aliens into our country whose presence in our country is problematic for the citizens of our nation and that if such aliens do succeed in entering our country that our nation have the resources, integrity and dedication to do everything possible to make it impossible for such aliens to function within our country so that even if they are not apprehended, they will find it pointless to remain in the United States.
As I have noted on a number of occasions, “No one would break into the amusement park if they could not get to go on the rides and no one remains in the amusement park at the end of the day when they turn shut down the rides and turn off the lights!”
If our government’s failures to secure our nation’s borders and effectively enforce our immigration laws concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation!
All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!
We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.
This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!
You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!
Democracy is not a spectator sport!
Lead, follow or get out of the way!
Immigration Arguments That Don’t Make Sense
