Illegal Immigration and the Problem of Assimilation

America has an immigration problem. It is estimated today that 10 to 12 million people in this country are here illegally. Late last year the House of Representatives passed new laws that dealt with this growing problem. Its bill would, among other things, create 700 miles of border fences on the southern border with Mexico, end the practice of "catch and release," where federal officials sometimes instruct local law enforcement to release detained illegal aliens because resources to prosecute them are not available, and increase penalties for employing illegal aliens.

The passage of the House bill has sparked marches by illegal immigrants opposing the bill and demanding rights as American citizens. Over the past month, hundreds of thousands have marched in cities across America. Unbeknownst to most Americans, the marches were organized by the Spanish-language media. Now the United States Senate is considering immigration reform as well. The Senate bill is called the McCain-Kennedy bill and was introduced by senators of the same name. It is also nominally supported by President Bush. The bill has minimal enforcement measures, but requires all illegal immigrants to register with the government, pay a $2,000 fine, and wait several years before to applying for citizenship.

The problem with this approach is that it rewards millions of people that broke American immigration law with citizenship and insults the hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who want to or have become American citizens legally. Does it make sense to reward, in any way, people who have broken the law to get here? As every parent with children knows, rewarding bad behavior only encourages more of it. In 1986 President Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million illegals with the promise that illegal immigration would stop. Unsurprisingly, that action didn’t stop illegal immigration, it encouraged more of it. Now we have about 11 million illegal aliens and the proposal by senators McCain and Kennedy will encourage even more to come.

In this debate many claim that America simply cannot deport 11 million people because the logistics are too complex. Instead of trying to deport them, they say, we should grant them some type of legal status. It is true that America does not have the resources to deport millions of people in mass, but it is very simple to create incentives to encourage illegal immigrants to leave this country of their own free will. First, make it difficult to get a job as an illegal by leveling massive fines for employers who use illegal labor. Second, make sure that people in America illegally have no access to public education, welfare benefits, free health care and other social services. By eliminating incentives and making it difficult, if not impossible, to remain in America illegally, the situation will improve.

Another facet of this debate is the assimilation of immigrants into American culture. America has many virtues, but one of the most overlooked is its ability to assimilate or “Americanize” its immigrants. In most parts of the world, when people emigrate from their homelands, they retain the customs, language, and culture of their native country and, to a very large degree, their loyalties remain with their country of origin. However, throughout American history, the United States has taken millions of immigrants from around the globe and successfully convinced them to buy into the American system of government, to speak English, and to fight and die for America by enlisting in the military. America used to be almost entirely populated by people in politics, education, business, and religion who insisted that new immigrants Americanize.

But that is not the reality today. Many in this country insist on multiculturalism and actually undermine American assimilation efforts. Politicians in charge of public education insist that Latino and Hispanic children be taught in Spanish rather than learn English. Mexico is promoting dual nationality for American children of Mexican ancestry, and in many schools, American students of Latino descent are taught by Mexicans in Spanish and use Mexican textbooks. As a result, many parts of the Southwest are becoming de facto Mexican states. The immigrant rights marches mentioned above should scare every American. The vast majority of the flags flown in those rallies were Mexican, not American. Is there any doubt where the loyalties of these people lie? Americans have always welcomed immigrants, but that openness has always come with strings attached. If we do not insist that immigrants assimilate, then America will fracture along political, cultural, and racial lines.

We as Americans cannot allow the Mexican government to pass its poverty problem onto us. Mexico has vast wealth in oil and natural resources, in addition to a very lucrative tourism industry, but it is unable to provide for its own people because of rampant corruption and waste. As a result, the Mexican government actively assists its poor citizens in breaking U.S. immigration law. Once an illegal alien is in this country, our welfare and medical services will be forced to support him, absolving the Mexican government of any responsibility. American medical and educational resources are already stretched thin without this influx of illegal immigration. We simply cannot provide for ourselves and millions of additional people from other countries.

It is past time to solve this immigrant fiasco. Measures such as building walls, increasing border patrol agents, deploying the military to the border, and eliminating incentives for illegals will solve the problem. Once the border is secure, we can start an orderly process of allowing more and more people into America and helping them to assimilate. It is not a lack of ideas, but a lack of political willpower that is allowing this problem to grow. Hopefully, American politicians will come to realize the advantages of emphasizing border security over rewarding law breakers, but don’t count on it.

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~ The Conservative Guy