Illegal immigration is hardly a neoteric subject in today’s political climate. It may seem so because debate on this topic has been propelled at high velocity into the forefront of the American public’s mind.
The often heated banter has been commonplace ever since President Trump made his first controversial campaign speech about illegal immigration and gave new life to the concept of the notorious wall (the literal and symbolic structure designed to help stop the now unbridled flow of illegal aliens across our southern border).
Much to the dismay of both the Liberals in mainstream media and Congress, President Trump’s statements about the dangers creeping across the nation’s unsecured border brought focus to the priority of fixing this problem.
Like every other controversial point of discussion, with this level of attention focused on a certain topic, it becomes abundantly clear that many in Congress are missing the point entirely.
Consequently, this issue will not be resolved until we drastically change the narrative.
While many choose to argue illegal immigration as a human rights issue, calling it an ‘act of love’ or advocating for the dissolution of borders altogether, the importance of this topic warrants far more than arguments solely based on the emotions.
But it seems that if a ‘white’ American citizen speaks up about illegal immigration, they’re immediately disregarded as a racist that knows nothing of culture, struggles and hardship. This begs the question: is the only valid opinion that of the illegal or those on the political left?
But what do I know; I am just one of those ‘white’ Americans on some census form anyway, right?
At least that is what the left would ignorantly reduce me to if given the chance. Of course, if one wants to enforce immigration laws or wants to build a wall, they are immediately branded as anti-immigrant in a fit of Left-wing hyperbole.
With that said, indulge me a moment while I tell you a little of my own family history.
My father came here as a teenager after his family escaped Northern Greece soon after the fall of Hitler and during a Greek civil war. They legally came to the United States as refugees with a desire to make their own way.
My father worked hard, graduated high school and even served in the US Army. We were always taught to be proud of our Greek heritage and even spoke Greek in our home.
Growing up in the southwestern United States, my Greek mother also developed a love and appreciation of Mexican culture, we even learned to speak Spanish. However, at no point did our appreciation of other cultures take precedent to the love and respect we share for our home: the United States of America.
It’s pretty sad that I have to clarify this to avoid being labeled as racist or anti-immigrant – but I digress.
While immigration is one of the many things that have made this nation great, over the years the topic has become more and more complicated. In the past, our immigration policy was specifically defined with an outlined process; however, after years of mismanagement and inaction, that process has become grueling, confusing and horribly inconsistent. Back then, immigrants came to the United States for a better life and assimilated into American culture.
Unfortunately, times have changed dramatically. Instead of coming here and becoming a contributing part of American society, a number of immigrants now expect that we must adapt to their cultural norms. Additionally, the mentality of building a better life for oneself has been overshadowed by the promise of a nearly endless gravy train of government handouts. This has led to mass illegal immigration on a ‘yuuuuuge’ scale. Trump pun intended.
This was a large part of what put President Trump into the White House to begin with.
Of course, this is because neither party has been willing to actually get something done. The result? Nothing ever changes and it gets worse.
Since taking office, President Trump has made many strides by changing the rules of engagement of the Border Patrol and ICE in an effort to curtail illegal immigration. We have even gotten several miles of ‘the wall’ completed due to President Trump’s leadership and creativity by declaring a state of emergency to divert funding that Congress was un able or unwilling to do.
The impact has been swift and decisive. It’s a start, but nowhere near a complete solution. Now that the battle for the wall seems to have been decided, the focus seems to have shifted backwards again.
Today, many misguided political leaders are fighting over what to do with the illegal immigrants who are already here. Add to that, the need to actually address DACA, the controversial, overreaching Executive Order conveniently issued by President Obama a couple of months before the 2012 election.
This issue remains unresolved to this day. President drew a line in the sand and both a Republican and a Democrat controlled House had failed to act. But, while all this of this does eventually need to be addressed, our priorities are severely out of order.
Illegal immigration is a National Security issue. There are many groups who seek to harm America. In fact, they have been likely exploiting our unsecured borders for years. After years of government inaction, our elected representatives are literally putting citizens in direct danger.
This is the ugly truth that Left has refused to acknowledge. The fact remains that there is still nearly NOTHING preventing those who wish us harm from entering our country.
That thought alone should keep us all up at night.
Regardless, we cannot begin to heal the metaphorical wound until we stop the bleeding. WE MUST TAKE STEPS TO PREVENT NEW AND FUTURE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FIRST, then figure out what to do with those who are already here.
So far, the Left has not budged from their desire for amnesty and open borders. This is as efficient as placing duct tape over holes on the Titanic to keep it from sinking.
President Reagan tried this in 1986 when he gave amnesty to nearly 3 Million Illegals, while having done nothing to prevent the flow of new illegals, we now have over 11 Million.
We should continue build and grow the wall along the southern border. The newly completed and fortified sections of wall have already radically reduced the numbers of new illegal immigrants.
This continues to be the only way to completely regain control of our border. Without it anything else is in vain.
Of course, those on the Left and their hyperbolic temper tantrums keep trying to equate a wall to the Berlin Wall. The difference here is that we are trying to keep people out and require them to go through a legal process to come in. Simply put, the wall is an expression of our sovereignty.
Walls work, pure and simple. The wall near San Diego reduced illegal immigration in that sector by over 90%. Overseas, Israel’s wall bordering the West Bank had similar results. Even several European countries are building walls to reduce the flow of Refugees.
No, the wall alone will not be foolproof. We will need to support the wall with things like E-verify, making it harder to work as an illegal. Also needed is an overhaul of our work visa tracking program to crack down on those overstaying their visas.
Make no mistake about it, continuing to build thousands of miles of wall will take months, if not years, to build and we need action now. With that said, a more immediate solution is to give border states the resources and technology they need to keep us safe in the areas under construction and the areas yet to be fortified.
Then, once we are in control of the border, we can then begin to address how to handle the illegals who are already here. Once we have reduced the flow, I think much of the anti-immigrant hyperbole by the Left would calm down and allow for a workable solution.
We are not a heartless nation. In my opinion, it’s not practical to deport 11 Million people. If they have no criminal record and are not on the public dole, they should be allowed to make their case and then go from there.
However, I don’t believe they should ever be granted full citizenship, just the ability to stay and work. After all, they are here illegally and should not have a say in the future of our country. Plus, this would discourage others from trying to come here illegally.
Of course, any children born here would be Americans, so that problem would almost fix itself in a single generation.
If both sides would calm down and think for a moment, there is some middle ground to be had here. Middle ground without giving up our sovereignty.
We are a nation of immigrants, but immigration needs to be tempered with common sense. Nothing matters if we cannot get control of our southern border. Let’s not put the cart before the horse.
