The Last American and the Immigration Debate
By J. James Estrada (06/06/07)
Why is it a crime for America to secure her borders? Why is it (seemingly) not a crime for foreigners to ignore our laws and come to this country illegally? The argument is that they are here to work, support their families, and contribute to the American “fabric”. The other (slightly heard) argument is that some are here to destroy, kill, and rip the American fabric. Do we really need to be philosophical about this by talking about chain-migration and family reunification?
Fine, let’s be philosophical. A recent story in LifeScience asked the question, which came first-the chicken or the European? It seems some chicken bones were found in the South American country of Chile and carbon dating places the age of the bones as originating somewhere between 1304 and 1424. Of course, Columbus sailed “the ocean blue” in 1492. The chickens, which are not indigenous to this continent, must have come from somewhere else. The LifeScience column speculates that perhaps Polynesians made their own historic voyage to the New World, pre-Columbus, and they brought the chickens.
While this discovery will lead to further discussion and speculation about who came to the American shores first, we can be sure of this, that first immigrant was certainly not “the last American.” Today’s America is a land of Europeans and Polynesians and Afrikaners’ and peoples from all over the globe. The melting pot is a term for which America will be known for into the foreseeable future and perhaps longer. The question has now become, “will the melting pot give way to the multi-cultural city-state?” And, is America destined to become a “world-state”?
A world-state is that country that no longer has a national identity. Instead, it has merged into the long desired (by some) socialist global village. What does this have to do with illegal immigration? It has everything to do with illegal immigration. The American nation that does not secure (how about “recognize?”) its own border is looking at the beginning of the road that ends where its own historical roots are uprooted and washed away.
On the other hand, a great country can remain a great country in displaying its ability to handle emergencies, crisis, and difficult problems with a paramount wisdom that leaves its harshest critics bewildered and ashamed. What cannot happen in this debate over the latest immigration reform package to reach the floors of Congress is to not learn from the past. The amnesty bill of 1986 failed when its most crucial element was not implemented: border security. Let’s enforce the immigration laws that are already on the books. That way a proud (because it was done legally) native of some faraway island may be able to say, “I’m the first American in my family, but I will not be the last.”
J. James Estrada
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