The Immigration Problem is Much More Than an Immigration Problem

 

We have a serious immigration problem. It is not new. It has existed for decades and the responsibility lies squarely at the feet of those who served in Congress and as President in decades past and now.  The problem is not a lack of immigration law. The problem is a lack of immigration law enforcement. It exploded out of control when the Biden administration opened our borders to the world in reckless disregard for the well-being of the American people.

 

Just the Facts

 

The backbone of current immigration law was enacted in 1952 as the Immigration and Nationality Act.  It’s been tweaked in the years since, making family reunification and needed skills the priorities for immigration, and implementing the immigration categories of family-sponsored, employment-based, and diversity-based.

 

The process for acquiring an immigrant Visa is straightforward but tedious. It involves applying, providing documents, paying fees and securing a sponsor.  The sponsor assumes legal responsibility for financial support, if needed, by the immigrant and dependents and must submit evidence of their own financial situation. The sponsor’s financial responsibility lasts until the immigrant becomes a citizen or has 10 years of qualifying work. In the Department of State’s instructions for the immigrant Visa process, it states clearly “if the beneficiary and dependents receive any designated federal, state or local means-tested public benefits under US law, the Agency providing the benefits ‘shall request reimbursement’ from the signatory” (sponsor). An in-person interview completes the process and the Visa is either approved or denied.

 

There are millions of people in the pipeline hoping to come to the United States to live and work legally.  Hundreds of thousands of immigrant Visas, commonly called “green cards”, are issued each quarter, yet the backlog remains high. On average, the immigrant Visa process takes from 1.5 to 2.5 years.

 

The Immigration Mess Pre-Biden

 

For decades prior to the election of Joe Biden as President, it was understood that an estimated 12 million illegal aliens resided in the United States. The last serious attempt to meaningfully address what to do about them occurred in 2007 when George W. Bush was President.  The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act attempted to create a compromise between the Parties with a path to legally remain in the country and eventually become citizens for those who were here illegally, and increased border enforcement to prevent future illegal crossings. Neither Party would support the Bill and they used the procedural shenanigans available to them to prevent it from even coming up for a vote.

 

The Biden presidency, with its open invitation to illegal migrants and the constraints it imposed on law enforcement, resulted in the number of illegal aliens in the country surging by well over another 10 million. 

 

 The Melting Pot That Gave Birth to Americans

 

Most Americans descended from people who immigrated from other countries. Our ancestors were drawn to the freedom and opportunity that were the American dream.  They risked everything to become part of the infamous “melting pot” that is America.  They held on to cherished traditions from the “old country” while assimilating into the new.  They learned to speak English and implemented skills and ideas they brought with them to build a future and become part of something bigger and better than they had ever seen.  They contributed and made the country stronger. They became Americans and they deeply loved their country and the life it afforded them. Many fought and died for the freedom they held dear.

 

Today, we are rapidly losing the concept of the melting pot that was a cornerstone of the country we became.  Many legal immigrants are not assimilating; they are not learning to speak English; and they are not becoming productive, self-sufficient members of society.  We learned to our dismay, during the Minneapolis welfare fraud hearing in the House of Representatives, that 75% of Somali immigrant households are receiving welfare support from taxpayers 10 years after their arrival.  Increasingly, we are hearing calls from rising immigrant leaders to replace the fundamentals of our precious freedom with the oppressive government ideologies our ancestors fled.  In a most extreme, but increasingly common, example, Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected Mayor of New York City, declared in his inauguration speech, “We’re going to replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”  That’s communism.

 

A Proposal to Address the Current Immigration Reality

 

The time has come for Americans to demand that Congress restore immigration to the asset it should be to our country.  My proposal is intended to generate conversation:

 

• Everyone who entered the United States illegally beginning in 2021 must return home immediately.  If they do not leave voluntarily, they will be deported when apprehended.

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must continue to apprehend and deport convicted criminals and those with deportation orders who remain in the country regardless of how long they have been here.

• Congress must require strict monitoring and enforcement of Visa expiration dates.  Many of the people here illegally are Visa overstays.

• Congress must define a process to allow the millions of illegal aliens who have been here for years to remain in the country legally. Whether that includes a path to citizenship is a point of debate, but it is clear we are not going to deport families who have been living and working here for decades because Congress turned a blind eye to immigration law enforcement. We must replace their illegal moniker with legal status and move that concern “off our plate” for good. They aren’t going anywhere.

• All legal immigration must be paused until the conditions to be accepted into the country are revised and strengthened to include:

  • A passion for the freedom and opportunity America provides and a deep commitment to assimilate. 

  • A requirement to learn English. New arrivals to the country must adapt to the country. The country does not adapt to them.

  • A requirement for self-sufficiency.  Require sponsors to provide any necessary transitional financial support.  This is not a taxpayer responsibility.

 

 

Misplaced Outrage

 

The Democrats and the media are doing all they can to instigate public outrage over the immigration enforcement that is underway across the country.  Enforcing the law is not the outrage.

 

The outrage is a country deliberately flooded with millions of unvetted, illegal migrants. 

 

The outrage is “sanctuary cities” that collude with people who are here illegally to shield them from law enforcement.

 

The outrage is forcing ICE to make “arrests at large” in the streets rather than allow them to come into local jails to take those who have been detained for crimes.

 

The outrage is agitating residents to engage in violent protests and illegally impede federal law enforcement operations.

 

The outrage is barring local law enforcement from arresting residents who are breaking the law in protest of immigration enforcement. 

 

The outrage is villainizing federal law enforcement agents with taunts of “gestapo”, “nazis” and worse, and exposing them and their families to harm by publicizing their names and residences.

 

The outrage is Mayor Jacob Frey screaming at ICE in a press conference, “Get the F*** out of Minneapolis!”

 

Immigration enforcement is the outrage of the day, but it is just a symptom of the many attacks on our freedom.  Commitment to the truth has largely disappeared from public discourse. Extreme liberal ideology preys on people’s emotions to whip them into a frenzy and prompt them to act out of fear, anxiety, hatred and impulse; seriously impeding the rational debate of ideas upon which freedom depends.  We are engaged in an intense battle to take our country back. The outcome will reveal if we are committed to the truth, will remain a nation of laws, will defend our freedoms and preserve our republic at all costs. Will we remain true to our values of rugged individualism, self-sufficiency and personal responsibility?  This fight has no room for compromise. There will be winners and losers. To lose this fight to this enemy - an extreme perversion of liberalism - would be to lose our country.