The Case For Legal Immigration

The Democrats would have us believe that we need to give amnesty to every illegal immigrant in the United States. Isn't it past time for the Congress to debate the case for legal immigration.

Instead, they have once again begun the drum beat for comprehensive immigration reform. Seven Democrat Senators have joined together to reintroduce the reform bill that failed back in 2007. This appears to be an attempt by the Democrats to prop up their fading support in the Hispanic-American community.

Meanwhile a variation of the Dream Act was passed and signed by Governor Jerry Brown of California. Republicans in near-bankrupt California have complained that after cutting millions in state aid to higher education the state has mysteriously come up with an estimated $40 million in privately funding for the education of illegal immigrants. A similar bill failed in the U.S. Congress in 2010 and there is little chance for its success in 2011 since the Republican-controlled House will vote against it.

This post is not going to rehash the old arguments for various Democrat attempts to create wedge issues for the 2012 election. We've heard all of the sob stories before. Let's be clear: illegal immigration is illegal, even if it's done for the best or most innocent reasons. Crossing the borders of the United States illegally is at the least a misdemeanor and repeated crossings escalate to felonies. Stealing an identity is also a felony.

This brings us to the case for legal immigration into the United States. This country was founded and nurtured by immigrants. Even the native Americans are not really natives. Their ancestors walked across the Bering land bridge from Asia. Whether your ancestors came by boat or plane, they all made the conscious decision to come to America. Most had no intention of returning to their former homelands.

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York. As a young boy all of the candy stores, diners, pizza parlors and soda shoppes were owned by either Jewish or Italian immigrants. Many of the Jews had numbered tattoos on their forearms marking them as survivors of the worst travesty of World War II, the Nazi death camps. All of these people came here for two things: freedom and the opportunity for a better life. Their children mainly went to college and prospered, living the American dream.

In my twenties, many of the same establishments were owned by Greeks. They came for many of the same reasons and prospered in America. South Asians came to America and started buying gas stations and convenience stores. Many of their children moved on to a better life. Today, in central Virginia we have South Koreans owning the very same stores. Their children are engineers and medical students. (I actually know a family whose two children are just that.)

My paternal 2nd great grandfather was an Irish immigrant named Michael Patrick Murphy. He came to this country with his younger brother, Patrick in late 1862 because there was no future for them in their home country. Ten years later he was a defender of his country at Antietam and his brother was a cavalryman in the same Federal army. He later became a successful real estate broker and First Justice of the Peace in Westchester County, New York.

On the same side of the family my great grandfather, Antonino Bisecchia, arrived here from central Sicily with some tools and a dream. He was a boot maker and apparently a good one because by the 1910 census he owned his own shop. By 1916 his entire family Anglicized their names. My grandfather and one of his younger brothers went as far as changing their surnames to Billies. Three of Antonino grandson's served proudly in the United States armed forces. One actually participated in the liberation of his family's homeland, Sicily.

Instead of looking for political gotchas and electoral advantages, isn't it time to discuss the case for legal immigration. America is a big country. We have many economic problems that require solutions. Here are some suggestions.

Stop arguing about the border fence and finish it already. Guard it like we're guarding our own homes because we are.

Create a national identity card and implement it. Enough with the so-called privacy issues. We have Social Security cards, drivers' licences and other forms of identity.

Create tough penalties for companies and their mangers who knowingly hire illegals.

Make sure that our border patrol and the troops that we station have the authority and force to seal the border. Let the rest of the world know that we will no longer countenance illegal crossings.

Beef up the foreign workers program to allow an easier flow back and forth across our borders.

Rework the current quota system to better reflect the current reality.

And finally, here's the big one: gradually encourage illegals currently in the United States to return to their home countries with the promise that they can return when their number is called.

The time has arrived for the politicians in Washington to resolve this vexing national issue and make the case for legal immigration.

Richard Billies
http://allthingspoliticaltoday.com/
I am a writer and a blogger who lives in central Virginia. I usually blog about politics and current events.

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