Thoughts on Pending Immigration Legislation
Back in June, when so-called immigration-reform legislation was pending in the Congress, I received an email forwarding a letter from a mutual friend detailing how different today’s “immigrants’ were from those that passed through Ellis Island one-hundred years ago.
I responded with a slightly updated version of an earlier blog. I repeat it because I feel so strongly about the subject. For me, the purpose of an intellect is action, not merely understanding. This is my action.
Here we go again. Although I agree completely with Rosemary’s point that things have changed since Ellis Island days, I fear she has made the exact same mistake that the Congress and the media are making, regarding the estimated 12 million illegal aliens resident in our country
The mistake and the response to Rosemary’s letter is simply that the 12 million or so aliens who reside illegally here are not immigrants. They are more correctly called “alien workers”. My Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition, defines the term “immigrant” as “A person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence.”
Most immigrant ancestors of today’s U.S citizens were malcontents. So fed up with the situation in which they found themselves in their home country, that they sold out everything, packed up the entire family, and came to America where they had no job waiting and often could not speak the language. These immigrants were committed. They had no intention of returning to their native countries. For them, God Bless their courage, it was sink or swim in the new land of America.
There is a very old and simple analogy that describes a true immigrant: In the process of providing a ham and egg breakfast, the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. And so it is with most illegals. They are merely involved in U.S. society and culture. They are not committed.
Virtually none of the current illegals came to the U.S. with the intention of taking up permanent residence. Most, if not all, came solely to earn the money needed to support their families who remained in their country of origin. They want to stay in the U.S. to work, but not to immigrate. They don’t wish to become citizens. They wish only to obtain documentation that assures them permanent residence. That being the case, they do not bother to learn English or to honor our flag. Hence, when they participate in a demonstration of support for their group, they fly the flags of the their mother country, proving my point.
Which is fine. Each year, thousands of true, legal immigrants come to our country, as they have for a couple centuries.
The legislation currently being considered by Congress is totally flawed, beginning with the name and purpose of the bill. We U.S. citizens and the 12 million illegal aliens, don’t need to reform “immigration.” We need to define and pass laws governing the rights, registration, and control of resident alien workers.
These aliens are here, most are hard workers, elements of our economy depend on their labor, and we need to recognize them. We don’t need to provide a “path to citizenship”. They didn’t arrive here with any desire for becoming citizens, so why provide a special means to do so. They want work, not to be one of us. Our current laws already provide a well-proven process for becoming a citizen. The ancestors of the vast majority of American citizens followed it.
To put my position in as simple terms as possible. Devising a successful solution to any problem begins with a clear understanding of the fundamental cause from which the problem arose. One test of understanding is to be able to assign a name to the problem. We won’t get anywhere with our illegal alien problem until we stop calling it an “immigration” problem and begin calling by what it is. An alien worker problem.
I responded with a slightly updated version of an earlier blog. I repeat it because I feel so strongly about the subject. For me, the purpose of an intellect is action, not merely understanding. This is my action.
Here we go again. Although I agree completely with Rosemary’s point that things have changed since Ellis Island days, I fear she has made the exact same mistake that the Congress and the media are making, regarding the estimated 12 million illegal aliens resident in our country
The mistake and the response to Rosemary’s letter is simply that the 12 million or so aliens who reside illegally here are not immigrants. They are more correctly called “alien workers”. My Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition, defines the term “immigrant” as “A person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence.”
Most immigrant ancestors of today’s U.S citizens were malcontents. So fed up with the situation in which they found themselves in their home country, that they sold out everything, packed up the entire family, and came to America where they had no job waiting and often could not speak the language. These immigrants were committed. They had no intention of returning to their native countries. For them, God Bless their courage, it was sink or swim in the new land of America.
There is a very old and simple analogy that describes a true immigrant: In the process of providing a ham and egg breakfast, the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. And so it is with most illegals. They are merely involved in U.S. society and culture. They are not committed.
Virtually none of the current illegals came to the U.S. with the intention of taking up permanent residence. Most, if not all, came solely to earn the money needed to support their families who remained in their country of origin. They want to stay in the U.S. to work, but not to immigrate. They don’t wish to become citizens. They wish only to obtain documentation that assures them permanent residence. That being the case, they do not bother to learn English or to honor our flag. Hence, when they participate in a demonstration of support for their group, they fly the flags of the their mother country, proving my point.
Which is fine. Each year, thousands of true, legal immigrants come to our country, as they have for a couple centuries.
The legislation currently being considered by Congress is totally flawed, beginning with the name and purpose of the bill. We U.S. citizens and the 12 million illegal aliens, don’t need to reform “immigration.” We need to define and pass laws governing the rights, registration, and control of resident alien workers.
These aliens are here, most are hard workers, elements of our economy depend on their labor, and we need to recognize them. We don’t need to provide a “path to citizenship”. They didn’t arrive here with any desire for becoming citizens, so why provide a special means to do so. They want work, not to be one of us. Our current laws already provide a well-proven process for becoming a citizen. The ancestors of the vast majority of American citizens followed it.
To put my position in as simple terms as possible. Devising a successful solution to any problem begins with a clear understanding of the fundamental cause from which the problem arose. One test of understanding is to be able to assign a name to the problem. We won’t get anywhere with our illegal alien problem until we stop calling it an “immigration” problem and begin calling by what it is. An alien worker problem.
posted by Bob Baker at 1:29 AM
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