Preserving American Values

The issue of immigration—actually it’s just illegal immigration—has become a major concern to a majority of Americans.  I’m sure that is largely because of Trump’s vilification of illegal immigrants.

But immigration has in fact been a major problem for many years, even though most Americans were not concerned about it.  It has been a problem largely because millions of illegals (roughly 11) have been living here for years now, working and paying taxes, yet they are outside the legal framework of our country.  That is the problem.

Contrary to Trump, they are not a problem because they are criminals, take jobs away from Americans, and use up resources; those are all lies, fabrications.  Illegal immigrants are no more likely to be criminals than the rest of the population.  They are mostly hard-working, tax-paying, people with families, trying to eke out an existence in a new country.  American workers don’t want the job immigrants take.  And as a general matter, they are not eligible for Federal benefits.  They are, however, entitled to access public education.

Instead, they are a problem because they are part of a black market in labor; they are subject to abuse because they have no rights. There should be no black market of labor in the United States.  And they are not entitled to Federal benefits, thus impacting their welfare and the welfare of their community.

But before talking about an answer to the immigration problem, we need to talk about the reasons for having a particular immigration policy to begin with.  Immigrants were welcomed by our country in the 19th century because first they supplied people to populate the vast new areas that had been added to our country, and later they supplied the vast unskilled labor pool that our expanding country and industry desperately needed.  America would not have been able to become the economic powerhouse it is without these immigrants.

Where do things stand today?  As seen by the reaction of agriculture, meatpackers, and various other businesses, illegal immigrants are critical to their being able to grow and process the produce and meat needed by our country to feed itself. These are jobs that pay so poorly and the working conditions are so bad that Americans have no interest in applying for these jobs.  Without the flow of illegal immigrants, this part of our economy would grind to a halt.

Even if these immigrants weren’t illegal, however, they would still apply for these jobs because that’s what immigrants do. Most don’t have the education or skills for anything else.

So the question is, why don’t we increase our legal immigration quotas to allow the influx of workers this country desperately needs?  Why do we not provide a path to citizenship for those that are already here, working and paying taxes?  

The answer is xenophobia and bigotry.  There are many Americans who don’t like the fact that Whites will soon no longer be the majority race in the U.S., largely because of the huge influx of Hispanics over the past few decades.  That’s the main reason why Obama’s plan to provide a path to citizenship for those illegals who were already here and working failed to be adopted.

Trump has done a great disservice to this country by painting a false picture of illegal immigrants as criminal scum.  Because this picture has been embraced by his supporters, it will make it that much harder to pass the legislation necessary to integrate these immigrants into our nation and provide agriculture and other industries with the flow of cheap, unskilled labor they need to function.

So what’s the political and humane solution to the immigration problem?  The answer is again a package combining strict border security with immigration reform.

1. All illegal immigration must be stopped at the border through strict enforcement of our laws.
2. Illegal immigrants who are currently in the U.S., working and paying taxes, and who have not been convicted of crimes, should be given a path to citizenship together with their families (children and parents) who are already here.
3. Those illegal immigrants under 60 who are already here and who do not choose to take advantage of the path to citizenship should be subject to deportation, humanely, back to their country of origin.
4. The legal immigration quota from Mexico, Central America, and other relevant countries should be increased substantially to allow for the labor needed by American businesses.
5. A major education program should be undertaken by the Federal government to correct the damage done by Trump to the reputation of illegal immigrants in the minds of many Americans.
6. The Federal government should institute ESL (English as a Second Language) courses for all immigrants.  
7. Some minimum level of mastery of the English language should be required for renewal of a Green Card or other legal status for all immigrants under 60 after they have been here for 2 years.  (Such a requirement already exists for citizenship.)

The last points may be controversial because many people, mostly Democrats and people of color, are against the idea of making English the country’s official language and thus would likely be against mandatory English training as well as the language requirement for Green Card renewal.  

I do not support making English the official language. But if the idea of immigration is to integrate immigrants into the flow of the American economy and society within a reasonable period of time, then a minimum mastery of English should be required, not just for citizenship but for Green Card holders (permanent residents) as well.  The idea is not to disrespect the immigrants’ culture but to insure that immigrants are able to also partake of American culture and be part of our society.  I am in fact in favor of vibrant ethnic and racial subcultures—which includes their spoken language—coexisting with American culture (see my blogpost “Pluralism or DEI?”).

We are a nation of immigrants.  But it’s important to realize that this fact was not the result of some do-gooder, humanitarian, policy as exemplified in Emma Lazarus’ famous poem that is enshrined at the Statue of Liberty.  It was instead the result of government’s acknowledgement of an economic reality–that a major influx of people was needed to grow our country and prosper.  This has been the basis of the government’s immigration policy through much of our history, despite the xenophobic reaction of much of the population—even of immigrants once they became established—to new waves of immigrants. lified in Emma Lazarus’ famous poem that is enshrined at the Statue of Liberty.  It was the result of government’s acknowledgement of an economic reality–that a major influx of people was needed to grow our country and prosper.  This has always been government policy despite the xenophobic reaction of much of the population—even of immigrants once they became established—to new waves of foreigners. 

Government must again react with good policy in the face of popular xenophobia.