Securing U.S. border tops immigration strategy

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Securing U.S. border tops immigration strategy
By George H. Rodriguez
Published: 12:00 a.m., Thursday, December 23, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is the first of an occasional Your Turn feature. We’ll be soliciting longer offerings from readers who have shown unusual interest and/or expertise on contentious issues.
The debate regarding illegal immigration does not show any sign of calming, particularly in light of the recent election and the DREAM Act legislation. As a conservative Hispanic, I want to clarify and underscore a conservative's position on this debate.
This is a debate is not about race or the “browning of America.” It is about a sovereign nation controlling its borders. Every nation has the right and duty to control and defend its borders, and so does the United States.
National security is critical. Terrorists want to enter the U.S. to harm Americans. Cartels want to bring violence and drugs here. Securing the border is the best way to protect our citizens and prevent dangerous people from entering.
We need to verify the identities and whereabouts of all immigrants in our country.
Liberals claim immigration law enforcement will lead to racial profiling and discrimination against Hispanics. However, if someone is stopped during a routine traffic issue, he or she should be able to produce a valid ID and proof of insurance, like everyone else. Illegal immigrants must be turned over to federal authorities and deported.
Jobs are the incentive for foreign workers to come here. The solution is to penalize employers who hire illegal immigrants and start a guest worker program where employers, in concert with immigration law enforcement officials, contract with workers to come here temporarily and return to their homeland when they're through.
This would be safer for workers than using smugglers. They wouldn't be “trapped” in the U.S. and could return to their country and family. Unfortunately, liberal unions disagree. They want guaranteed wages and benefits for low-skilled jobs to be on par with skilled and educated workers. Apparently, they would like to create a workers' paradise.
What about children brought here or born to illegal immigrants? The U.S. is not an orphanage. These children are victims of their parents' illegal behavior. We can't offer amnesty through the DREAM Act in the near future, only to have another DREAM Act in 20 years. Amnesty was granted in 1986. Now liberals and activists want another one for an even larger group of people. Enough is enough.
Another issue: U.S. taxpayers shouldn't assist governments and support their citizens who are here illegally. If governments don't work with us to control illegal immigration, we should curtail aid to them.
Hispanics should understand that liberals and Democrats are playing politics with this issue. Democrats controlled the House, Senate and presidency for two years with a super majority. Why didn't they enact legislation then if it was so vital?
In 2005, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and their supporters demonstrated in U.S. cities carrying foreign flags and protest signs, mostly in Spanish. It seemed like a foreign invasion on U.S. soil and left taxpayers unsympathetic with non-citizens who are here illegally demanding equal rights and constitutional protection.
Immigrants should be encouraged to assimilate into America rather than segregate themselves. And they should expect an English-speaking, capitalist democracy, with Judeo-Christian moral values.
The U.S. is a nation of laws. The main reason people come here is to seek opportunities and protection. If we bend laws for any reason, we'll be on a slippery slope toward an unjust society. We can't become the kind of society that foreign citizens fled in the first place. Laws must be respected and obeyed.
America has the most generous immigration policy in the world -- we admit 1 million legal immigrants each year.
We're a nation of immigrants, but times have changed. There are lawful and legal ways to accomplish all things including entering our country and changing its laws. Entering illegally and violating its laws once you are here is not the correct way.

George H. Rodriguez is a retired federal employee who worked in the Reagan administration and the George H.W. Bush administration. He lives in San Antonio.


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