People are fond of the idea that the United States of America is “a nation of immigrants.” My mother’s paternal grandparents came from the British Isles. My paternal grandparents were naturalized citizens who immigrated here from northern Europe. My father had to repeat the first grade because he could not speak English when he started school. In those days, they didn’t have kindergarten, or English as a second language programs. The teachers went to his family’s home, and they told my grandparents that if they didn’t speak English in the home, their boys would not be able to progress in school.
Please do not misunderstand. Immigrants sometimes face difficult adjustments, but assimilation was always something that my father’s family sought after. I still have my grandfather’s naturalization papers, which were a source of pride to the family. My dad’s people were proud of who they were, but they came to America wanting to become Americans. My dad was raised with “old world” values, and he did his best to raise his children accordingly. We became “Americanized” anyway. We are aware of our ethnic and cultural heritage, but our personal identity is not based on it.
My own family’s history has influenced how I view the issues of immigration, the border wall, sanctuary cities, and the status of the so-called “U.S. Persons” who live in the United States but are not citizens. I confess to a conservative, “rule of law” point of view, but please believe that, in Christ, there can be no hatred. Jesus loved everyone enough to die for us all. As a Christian, I can do no less.
A useful tool for understanding how people view election issues is a probability distribution that shows the extremes of each perspective on the ends, and the central tendency in the middle. I like it because, in many cases it shows that most of us fall somewhere around the arithmetic average. Americans are a quarrelsome bunch, but I hope we are reasonable enough not to become as polarized as the news media would have us believe. The example following resembles a normal probability distribution:
Percentages under the curve
If we say that people whose views are liberal fall to the left of the center line, and people whose views are conservative fall to the right of the center line, we might speculate that about (68%) of Americans could be described as “left or right of center.” About 14% of us might be seen as “hard left” and 14% as “hard right.” That leaves about 2% of the population holding “extreme leftist” views and 2% who may be “right wing extremists.” The extremists are sometimes described as a “lunatic fringe,” but they make the most noise. Therefore, they often get the most attention.
The figure above resembles Chebyshev’s Theorem. Accordingly, although there may be variance from issue to issue in the 2020 general election, most populations are well described by the curve shown. Ask yourself, “Where do I fall on the curve?”
Along the spectrum of public opinion about immigration, there seems to be broad based support for “legal” immigration. Some on the far left favor open immigration, allowing in almost anybody who wants to come to the United States. Such was the case when my grandparents and great-grandparents immigrated. It is safe to say, however, that a majority of Americans do not want open immigration today. A few on the far right want to shut down legal immigration and illegal migration entirely. Stopping legal immigration would not serve the needs of the country well. I think most of us simply want a just immigration policy that works.
There appears to be strong opposition to disregarding our immigration laws and rules by allowing people to migrate into the country illegally. However, there is general agreement that those laws and rules need to be reformed. Our politicians promise reform, but little has been done since 1986, when the Simpson-Mazzolli Act granted amnesty to about 3 million persons who were residing in the U.S. illegally. Amnesty encouraged ever greater illegal migration.
Personally, I am in general agreement with President Trump’s stated policy of allowing controlled immigration by people who have skills the country needs and who want to become Americans. I think, however, that safeguards need to be in place that ensure there will be no discrimination due to race, ethnicity, national origin, or gender. Those safeguards should include a limited opportunity for those who are unskilled and under-educated to immigrate.
I support actions that will limit illegal migration into the country. The United States of America cannot be a nation ruled by law if people are allowed to violate our immigration laws and policies. I am especially opposed to allowing noncitizens to vote, obtain American drivers’ licenses, hold elected public office, or receive public assistance. I oppose federal funding for cities who refuse to cooperate with federal and state immigration laws and policies. Sanctuary cities undermine the rule of law, thus eroding the very foundation of the country.
During “die Hitlerzeit” in Germany, the United States refused to admit Jewish refugees. The excuse was that they would bring communism with them. Things are usually done for more than one reason, and Antisemitism was doubtlessly involved. In retrospect, there was little risk to admitting the Jewish refugees. People died in concentration camps whose lives could have been saved. We must never let that happen again.
Today, we face infiltration by terrorist groups who want to destroy us. Consequently, we must do what we can to keep terrorists from exploiting the refugee crisis in the Middle East (and our porous borders) to infiltrate the United States. Hopefully, ways can be found to safely admit the victims of the turmoil in the Middle East while keeping out the terrorists. Until that time, strictly scrutinizing refugees from failed states is prudent.
I support efforts to make all our borders seaports, airports, and other points of entry more secure. President Trump has worked to create a wall along our border with Mexico. It has been shown to be effective enough to justify its cost. Continued strengthening of border security will help to suppress illegal activities like migration, drug trafficking, human trafficking for illegal servitude and sexual exploitation, and the illegal arms trade. The Democrats and others want to rely exclusively on technology to interdict illegal migration, which has not been cost effective. Technology should be used to supplement other security measures.
President Trump has been able to motivate the Mexican government to work harder to stop illegal immigrants from entering our country. All due credit should be given to him for doing something his predecessors were unable to accomplish.
I think that physical barriers and technological surveillance should both be used when effective outcomes can be proved. We should also pass and enforce laws that take away the incentives that motivate people to migrate into the United States illegally. We need to find ways to help improve life for potential illegal migrants in their native countries instead.
Some people who benefit economically from exploiting migrants for cheap labor favor unrestricted immigration. Politics makes strange bedfellows, as the saying goes. These normally conservative businesspeople, farmers, and building contractors end up supporting Democrats who, in turn, favor open immigration because it increases the number of Democratic voters.
Some Americans are alarmed by the results of poorly managed legal immigration and the social and financial problems caused by illegal migration. They are often demeaned unfairly as racist “haters.” If you share their legitimate concerns about immigration and related problems, you may want to vote for President Trump and the Republican candidates who say they will support him.
My prayer is that We the People will elect a president, senators and congressional representatives who are not so locked into ideology that they cannot work together to craft immigration laws that make sense. Everybody is harmed by bad law, whether they are a citizen or an immigrant.
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