By: Ken Willette – 02-23
As a constitutional-minded conservative, I often assert that if an action is currently illegal, it must remain illegal—- regardless of the celebrity outcry or the use of trendy language manipulated to excuse that activity. Therefore, it is categorically wrong to argue that illegal aliens are merely undocumented immigrants.
For example, many of these immigrants are not officially on company payrolls (undocumented) but are paid under the table. Many Americans, and hopefully most liberals, would say that tax evasion should be severely punished. Let’s not apply window-dressing to an escalating problem costing our nation hundreds of billions of dollars, exhausting state and municipal resources and directly causing hundreds of preventable deaths. Let’s not discourage law-abiding job seekers and dilute wages because a shady employer can forgo paying taxes and hypothetically abuse and lowball an unaccounted worker.
Granting an illegal alien a Massachusetts driver’s license is not a solution either, because over 500,000 companies nationwide routinely utilize E-Verify to purge illegal aliens from any job consideration. E-Verify has been a key tool to prevent Social Security fraud and other government assistance misuse.
The media doomsayers, in their ivy towers, proclaim that since conservatives oppose illegal entry into our country, we must automatically reject all forms of immigration. This is a blatant parlor trick of the Leftist media— “You must hate all immigrants”. I love living in the most diversified and multicultural society on the planet. Contrary to what CNN and MSNBC spew, we accept more refugees than any other nation. We have the most robust foreign and humanitarian aid programs (over $50 billion annually), that leave any other nation in the dust.
Sadly, our nation and individual states have passed morally questionable laws over the centuries, including slavery enforcement acts, prohibitions against interracial marriages and outright discrimination against certain immigrant groups. The genius of our constitutional republic is the amendment process designed to address past transgressions and wrongs. However, there has never been a moral imperative to empower millions of illegal aliens, bypass legal pathways to citizenship and grant direct amnesty. Any such legislative effort has been proven to be an unmitigated disaster on an epic scale.
In my estimation, President Reagan’s greatest policy mistake was agreeing to an amnesty law in 1986. Leaders, pushing for amnesty at the time, pledged that swift congressional recourse would reduce future illegal border entries. In fact, amnesty opened the floodgates of illegal aliens and created a multigenerational crisis. Anyone who has studied this decades-long trend didn’t have to read the NY Times editorial to wake up to the public policy aftermath manifesting at our Southern borders. Based on reputable academic studies and formulas, illegal immigration has worsened at least fivefold, and both parties share the blame.
Name me another nation that would tolerate the continued presence of someone living there illegally. Or becoming a hopeless client of the welfare system. Or worse, committing heinous crimes. Why should we be any different? There is a fine line between being charitable and being a patsy.
Conservatives can offer real solutions to immigration reform and correct the misguided legacy of 1986. For example, we must affirm that anyone seeking a pathway to citizenship, even for those here illegally and operating in the shadows, must comply with English proficiency, possess clean criminal records exclusive of immigration violations, and adhere to our Constitution. Illegals must perform community service hours, pay fines, and check in with immigration officials on a regular basis.
We must also promote fast track legislation to encourage interviews and citizenship applications with foreign students at our prestigious higher education institutions who excel in math, science, medicine and engineering. It is foolhardy for our nation to educate millions of foreign students but not officially approach them about the possibility of becoming U.S. citizens. We should seek innovative and talented people who have learned English or who are eager to acquire our nation’s official language. We must actively replenish our aging population from those qualified candidates with 21st century skills and those who have obeyed the laws of their host country.
We must streamline the existing backlog of legal immigration applications. They deserve an expedited solution and not endless delays. Special status for those who served our military honorably should also be included in any comprehensive package.
Our nation still represents a shining beacon of hope, innovation and forward-thinking. Let’s not cloud that future by condoning millions of illegals crashing our border security, coming in as unsubstantiated refugees or overstaying their visas. Legal immigration can still be America’s lifeblood to a beautiful tomorrow, but we must act decisively now. ◊