I have listened very carefully to the arguments being offered about illegal immigration and the size of the problem. What emerges is a picture where there are 12 million illegal households set up in our country, costing the taxpayers $113 Billion dollars per year in government services. Apparently there are approximately 300,000 "anchor babies" so called born in the United States every year. This figure alone dwarfs the total number of legal immigrants who enter our country.
Much like the corporations who were "too big to fail"and required government subsidy or takeover, this problem is "too big to solve" by the simple enforcement of law. Or so we're told. How did we get here?
In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, for the purpose of protecting newly freed slaves from certain people who would have them deported on, what at the time, were valid Constitutional reasons. Our citizenry, to their credit, realized that this flaw could, and should, be rectified, thus protecting slaves freed by our government with the expressed intent of being citizens. We fought a war over this amounst ourselves and killed of a third of our male citizens resolving it.
The 14th Amendment reads thus:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside."
Problem solved, right? Maybe not. As it turns out, just as the Framers never foresaw the freeing of thousands of slaves as presenting a legal problem, neither did those who crafted and got ratified the 14th Amendment foresee that it would be used as the means for convincing a kindhearted citizenry that the failure of it's government to police its borders made it then impossible, or at least unpalatable to do so, after the fact.
So what are we really facing? First off, we are facing a problem where exploding population is being fueled by a combination of the failure, at the front end, to enforce constitutional law. That failure is self feeding, because the folks who came here illegally are having legal children whom we are too kind to strip from their parents to deport the parents. This population explosion has occurred and we are finding ourselves in the midst of a critical unemployment crisis, and we wonder why? We are creating it, ladies and gentlemen, by allowing folks to walk in and grab our jobs.
So we are facing an insurmountable problem, right? I think not. We are facing a problem that was created by our own procrastination. And it is a problem that is only unsolvable if we continue to procrastinate.
The solution is NOT, as some would tell you, to abandon selectively the Constitutional protections we have enjoyed all these years. The solution is found within those Constitutional protections.
1. We need to stop procrastinating. Enforce immigration law, no matter what the cost. I'm betting if we invested the $113 billion we are giving to illegals, we'd put a dent in it.
2. Since the 14th Amendment as successfully protected the slaves from deportation, let's begin the process of amending that. The Constitution provides us with the mechanism to do so. Let's not ignore it, let's fix it. Let's pass an amendment that defines citizenship. Let me suggest language:
"Those people will be deemed citizens by virtue of having been born to at least one parent who is a United States citizen, at the time of his/her birth, or who was legally naturalized prior to the birth of the child who would then be a citizen. Present residents of the Untied States, who had filed Federal income taxes for the 5 years prior to the ratification of this act, would be considered citizens, and their offspring would be afforded such as well."
3. The period of time that it normally takes to ratify an Amendment would give ample time for hardworking residents to become 5 year taxpayers, and would create incentive to establish "green card status" which is being, for whatever reason, avoided by illegals. Goodness knows, we are not arresting and deporting, and we are paying benefits to them. Give em the green card...
4. Finally, learn the lesson of National Procrastination. Not only doesn't it work, it is being used to create crises that are then being used to undermine the simple protections our Constitution has afforded us.
I fear the erosion of those Constitutional protections far more than I do the costs of enforcing them.
Much like the corporations who were "too big to fail"and required government subsidy or takeover, this problem is "too big to solve" by the simple enforcement of law. Or so we're told. How did we get here?
In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, for the purpose of protecting newly freed slaves from certain people who would have them deported on, what at the time, were valid Constitutional reasons. Our citizenry, to their credit, realized that this flaw could, and should, be rectified, thus protecting slaves freed by our government with the expressed intent of being citizens. We fought a war over this amounst ourselves and killed of a third of our male citizens resolving it.
The 14th Amendment reads thus:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside."
Problem solved, right? Maybe not. As it turns out, just as the Framers never foresaw the freeing of thousands of slaves as presenting a legal problem, neither did those who crafted and got ratified the 14th Amendment foresee that it would be used as the means for convincing a kindhearted citizenry that the failure of it's government to police its borders made it then impossible, or at least unpalatable to do so, after the fact.
So what are we really facing? First off, we are facing a problem where exploding population is being fueled by a combination of the failure, at the front end, to enforce constitutional law. That failure is self feeding, because the folks who came here illegally are having legal children whom we are too kind to strip from their parents to deport the parents. This population explosion has occurred and we are finding ourselves in the midst of a critical unemployment crisis, and we wonder why? We are creating it, ladies and gentlemen, by allowing folks to walk in and grab our jobs.
So we are facing an insurmountable problem, right? I think not. We are facing a problem that was created by our own procrastination. And it is a problem that is only unsolvable if we continue to procrastinate.
The solution is NOT, as some would tell you, to abandon selectively the Constitutional protections we have enjoyed all these years. The solution is found within those Constitutional protections.
1. We need to stop procrastinating. Enforce immigration law, no matter what the cost. I'm betting if we invested the $113 billion we are giving to illegals, we'd put a dent in it.
2. Since the 14th Amendment as successfully protected the slaves from deportation, let's begin the process of amending that. The Constitution provides us with the mechanism to do so. Let's not ignore it, let's fix it. Let's pass an amendment that defines citizenship. Let me suggest language:
"Those people will be deemed citizens by virtue of having been born to at least one parent who is a United States citizen, at the time of his/her birth, or who was legally naturalized prior to the birth of the child who would then be a citizen. Present residents of the Untied States, who had filed Federal income taxes for the 5 years prior to the ratification of this act, would be considered citizens, and their offspring would be afforded such as well."
3. The period of time that it normally takes to ratify an Amendment would give ample time for hardworking residents to become 5 year taxpayers, and would create incentive to establish "green card status" which is being, for whatever reason, avoided by illegals. Goodness knows, we are not arresting and deporting, and we are paying benefits to them. Give em the green card...
4. Finally, learn the lesson of National Procrastination. Not only doesn't it work, it is being used to create crises that are then being used to undermine the simple protections our Constitution has afforded us.
I fear the erosion of those Constitutional protections far more than I do the costs of enforcing them.
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