THE IMMIGRATION DEBATE 
US Citizenship Tutorial Naturalization application In general, you may apply for U.S. Citizenship or Naturalization if: You have been a lawful permanent resident for five years. You have been a lawful permanent resident for three years, have been married to a US citizen for those three years, and continue to be married to that US citizen.; You are a lawful permanent resident child of United States citizen parents: or You have qualifying military service.
The above is from the US Immigration service. Its the Naturalization Ceremony that many who legally come to the US go through.
This is a significant debate in the US right now. The role of legal immigration with illegal immigration. The effect this has on the economy and stabilty of the US. And the final effects it has on national sovereignty. The right must find a way to show that the stance against illegal immigration isnt a stance against Hispanics.
The left as always portraits any fight in terms of race or creed rather than merit of the facts. I have always felt that the best way to frame the debate wasn't to turn it towards average Americans and asking them to stand against illegal immigrants rather to go to legal immigrants and make the argument that illegal immigration harms their chances in America. Those that follow American laws have been unrightfully force to compete against numberous people who have cut in front of them and demanded that they get preferentual treatment simply because of their numbers.
America cannot devolve into a numbers game of who gets their rights before other peoples rights. People can't get special breaks to ignore laws and chances to "Come out of the dark and assume their place in US society" when that very concept means that they take the place of someone who did follow the law and who did everything right to get to America. America isnt against LEGAL immigration. We are against those who refuse to obey our laws just to personally benefit at the expense of others. And that expense is real one.
The left wants to extend rights and benefits to many who have none but in the process even a country as wealthy as America cannot be the worlds employer or the world's healthcare giver any more than we can be the world's policeman. We only harm those who follow the law by rewarding lawbreaking. We only encourage people to split their families just to gain an advantage to stay here and benefit from a failure in our system. The true way to win the battle of immigration is to turn to the legal immigrants and stand up for them. Because if we allow illegal immigration the first ones to suffer from that will be those who have to compete with a flood of illegal Immigrations. America cannot be a just nation if it cannot administer justice to those that do follow laws in preference to those who do not.
Look again at the above faces in the naturalization ceremony. They cherish the dream that they fought so hard and long to acheive. By surrendering our immigration laws for the expeidency of those willing to circumvent it we steal from both parties the true meaning of the ceremony. We rob the legal immigrations who worked hard to acheive this goal by devaluing the ceremony by giving it to those that dont want to legally acheive it. For illegals we devalue it because we deny them the chance of ever acheive it legally by granting an amnesty that is more a peice of paper than a true dream.
Over a century ago immigrants came to America through Ellis Island right past the Statue of Liberty and they came legally and with great ceremony. Today we allow immigrants to cross the deserts and Rio Grande with little more than Golphers as the witnesses to their entry into the USA.
America is best when it is held up as a dream not when it is dumbed down into just a simple truck ride or running across a border . Illegal Immigration is a theft of that dream and should be prevented from happening. |
