An Immigration Plan
By Bruce Walker (11/19/07)
The problem of illegal immigration is really a problem with illegal immigration from Mexico and from Central American nations. There are two reasons why immigration is such a political hot potato. First, a large majority of Americans are profoundly disturbed about the number of illegal immigrants in our country because of the danger of crime, of terrorism and of non-assimilation into American society. Second, the Hispanic voting bloc is large and important for both political parties, and it is the fastest growing ethnic group.
Conventional wisdom is that Republicans are hurt in the long term by standing up for our sovereign borders and that Democrats can be hurt in the short term by supporting amnesty, or some variation of it, in America. But it does not have to be that way. There is a way in which to dramatically curtail illegal immigration without offending Mexicans in America.
Without excusing illegal immigration, most illegal immigrants are not savage beasts, anxious to destroy America, but rather hopeful people trying to become part of the American dream. Providence placed these people in Mexico (or Guatemala or El Salvador or Belize) but as with all providential actions, we must say “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”
The illegal immigrants who come into our nation, by and large, are devout Christians who love their families and who work hard. These people should not be allowed to flout our laws – no one should be allowed to flout our laws – but the presence of these illegal aliens does represent a real desire by many of these people to become legal aliens.
And that is what we should want. What if today we had twelve million legal immigrants from Mexico in America? Would anyone be concerned? Suppose these millions all had green cards, all had been processed by our Immigration and Naturalization Services, and all complied with the requirements of legal immigrants – should that alarm us?
I submit not. America went through just that process a century ago, and nothing bad happened. If our nation could absorb a much higher percentage of its own population as legal immigrants at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, then why could it not absorb a smaller percentage at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century? Why not dramatically increase the number of legal immigrants that we accept from Mexico?
The arguments against this are nearly identical to the arguments made when large numbers of Germans immigrated to America in the mid-1800s and when large numbers of Poles, Italians and Jews immigrated to America fifty years after that: the immigrant population were not “real Americans,” they would undermine our culture, they were not proficient in our language, their cheap labor undercut our wage scale, and these immigrants were “different.”
Actually, immigration from Mexico should be easier to assimilate than immigration from those European populations. Mexicans, after all, are “Americans” in the most general sense of the word. They are conversant enough with our language and culture to remain here in large numbers as illegal immigrants. Many of them would intend to jump through all the hoops necessary to become citizens the right way, and many of the rest would want to return to Mexico at some point.
Moreover, as Europe has to cope with a large immigrant population that is Moslem, America has the advantage of having a large immigrant population that is devoutly Catholic. Allowing millions of legal Mexican immigrants into our country could actually increase the influence of Christianity in our cultural and economic life, the importance of which almost cannot be overstated.
A legal exodus of people out of Mexico would also put pressure on the Mexican government to do the only thing that will ever slow the tide of demographic movement: reform. If millions of Mexicans came to American legally, then America would cease to be the “enemy” and it would become increasingly clear that the real enemy of the Mexican people is their own corrupt government.
What about the political impact upon American politics? Here Republicans have a tantalizing opportunity. Much of the opposition to large numbers of legal immigrants entering our nation from Mexico comes from labor unions, which are eternally hostile to Republicans. What if Republicans championed, specifically, legal Mexican immigration – placing Mexicans at the top of the list for legal immigration? The response, from those legal Mexican immigrants who eventually became citizens would probably be gratitude. The general response from Mexican-Americans would probably be thankfulness for having given special and favored status to legal immigrants from Mexico.
This, as a counterweight to building a security fence across our border with Mexico and deporting illegal immigrants when we find them, could work. America should not be afraid of a loyal, Christian Mexican population as citizens in our nation. We are a land of immigrants. Some of the best and bravest of us have Mexican heritage and Mexico is the most natural land to replenish our growing population as the other democracies face population declines or populations filled with Moslem bent on imposing Islamic law on their host countries.
What we must demand is compliance with our laws. Granting most favored nation status to Mexico and receiving, as legal immigrants, most of the Mexicans who have in the past entered here illegally may be the best solution to an almost insoluble problem. If nothing else, Republicans should consider making this proposal to see what happens on the other side of the aisle.
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