The issue of illegal immigration, having festered for the last decade, is now coming to a boil. Beginning in the early 2000s, as Americans have been forced to deal with the crushing costs of our social entitlement programs, we have sought to limit illegal immigration as a way of reducing the welfare costs associated with many such immigrants. More recently, the issue of immigration has been linked to the drug cartels of Central America and the threat of terrorist infiltration.
Thus, we must ask the question: Are illegal immigrants coming because they want to join and become a part of the American experience, or are they coming to destroy the American way of life?
In a post 9/11 world, we cannot afford to give those who wish us harm easy access to our society. Indeed, nearly 100 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt struck a similar chord when he said:
In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.
Theodore Roosevelt, January 3, 1919
America is the one country on the face of the planet where people of all nations wish to come. Those who are willing to wait in line, and follow the rules, really want to be here. They come not only to better themselves, but our nation as well. Those who come illegally, aided by a network of groups who have their own agendas for helping them get here, are less likely to pledge allegiance to the United States of America. At best, it results in a fracturing of community and culture, not the building and nurturing of American culture. At worst, it provides cover for those who wish to do our nation harm as they invade, undermine and destroy our nation in a post 9/11 world.
Teddy Roosevelt calls to us today, admonishing our leaders to be loyal to the American people. In 2012, we are looking for a President with a vision for 2020 who agrees with President Roosevelt’s statement that “There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all.”
The Three Pillars of a 2020 Vision for Immigration Policy
