Tuesday, May 17, 2005

SOLVING THE ALIEN PROBLEM

Arguments against the currently porous American border include:
  • The deleterious economic effect of having many undocumented people living in the US, and competing for jobs with the citizens.
  • The drain on the public treasury of providing non-citizens with human services, including education, health care, public assistance, etc.
  • The difficulty of keeping non-citizens from influencing our government by participating in improper voting. Measures that attempt to limit voting access may, inadvertently, affect citizens of Latino descent.
  • Divided loyalties among aliens.
  • Higher crime rate among illegal aliens:
    In Los Angeles, 95 percent of all outstanding warrants for homicide (which total 1,200 to 1,500) target illegal aliens. Up to two-thirds of all fugitive felony warrants (17,000) are for illegal aliens.

    A confidential California Department of Justice study reported in 1995 that 60 percent of the 20,000-strong 18th Street Gang in southern California is illegal; police officers say the proportion is actually much greater...

  • The difficulty of providing effective Homeland Security. Over 10 million Latin Americans are of Arabic descent. Some estimates are that around 70% of these people are Muslims. Radical Islamic activity is rapidly growing in this region.

So, are the Latinos streaming over the border our biggest problem? Well, that's more of a local (CA, AZ, NM, TX) problem. By that, I mean it affects a specific region more than the rest of the US. And, because of its regional effect, it might be better solved by a regional solution – for example, Regional Border Police. Finally, a solution that provides work for the relatively unskilled (and some security training), just as the armed forces do – but, with less risk of getting killed.

The bigger problem is the way that some citizens of this country game the system.:

  • Marrying an alien, sponsoring their entry, and later, divorcing. The new citizen is now free to do the same. Call it Making a Citizen through Marriage Churning. A VERY common ploy, easy to get past immigration. Since the alien is often distantly related, they can easily show the familiarity that would indicate a true marriage.

    Amnesties only make it worse, since the newly amnestied are then eligible to do the same – which many have done. VERY popular with Mid-East populations, and one reason there is such an explosion of immigration in that group.

    I think we have to get tough – make the spouse a legal resident, but extend the time period for becoming a citizen – say, to 20 years. If divorced during that period, legal status is yanked.

  • Citizen through birth – we have to change this – if the parent is a non-citizen, so is the new child. Too often, the liberals pull at the heartstrings by citing the cases of young citizens who will suffer if their parents are deported.

    The only children who should qualify for citizen status are those whose parents FULLY support them financially, and have at least one parent who is a citizen.

  • Citizens should be able to speak at least rudimentary English. Yes, I know it's tough. No other country would allow ME to become a citizen without a working knowledge of the language, so why should I set the standard any lower?

    Understand, I'm not insisting on perfect grammar or dialect – hey, I'm OK with accents that are hard to understand – we let Texans & New Yorkers be citizens, don't we? But, they have to be able to talk to utility companies, banks, schools, and potential employers. We can't set the standard so low they won't be able to get by in this country, and take advantage of the opportunities that are available to the English-speaking. In other countries, the ones who are benefiting from out-sourcing opportunities are the English-speaking. Let's give our guys that same benefit.

Citizenship is a privilege, not a right. Let's treat it like one, and not bestow it liberally on anyone who asks.

No comments:

Lies of the Left

This COULD be a lengthy post. But, I'll try to winnow it down to a reasonable length. The CA Parent Bribery 'Scandal' - the 1...