One of the major issues facing this country going into next year's Presidential Election is that of immigration, specifically illegal immigration. Illegal immigration, without a doubt is a blight and a huge problem, especially from the perspective of the everyday American. The Congressional Democrats and President Bush actually formulated a plan to address the issue of illegal immigration, but the opposition to the plan, which included amnesty to illegal aliens in the country and a fast-track to citizenship, was so fierce that the plan was killed, and one of its chief supporters, John McCain, saw his campaign for the Presidency hit a major snag. The issue of illegal immigration is particularly intractable when considering its reach, impacting our economy both positively and negatively, our culture and our collective security as a nation. Many saw that there is a culture war going on in America and the issue of immigration is one of the front line battles. While allowing migrant workers makes some degree of sense economically, it is imperative that we document who comes and goes and we must also fight to preserve our identity as a country.
The economics of illegal immigration, particularly in California, are at the heart of the debate in the center over immigration. In the West, illegal immigrants are often a source of cheap labor, working primarily in agriculture in jobs that don't pay well enough and are undesirable for Americans. Additionally, illegal immigrants will work as cheap construction workers or builders. Labor of illegal immigrants has been a boon for the state's economy, and has kept the agriculture industry in the country. Recently, the Bush Administration announced a plan to impose severe fines on companies that employ undocumented workers, and several companies said that the regulation would be back-breaking. Minimum wage laws and the general standard of living enjoyed by Americans makes American replacements in the agriculture industry too expensive. In terms of construction, non-union labor remains an alternative, but not necessarily an attractive one, as many people would pay higher wages for much higher quality work by union labor.
In spite of the benefits to illegal immigrant labor, there are numerous costs associated with it as well. Undocumented immigrants account for millions of dollars in costs to the American taxpayer in terms of social programs. Americans pay for the free education through state college of the children of illegal immigrants, contribute an exceedingly high amount in health care costs to the point where the social services are breaking the back of the budget. These entitlement programs serve as inducements to come to the United States and accept a lower wage (by American standards) to work. Essentially, the agriculture companies are having their cheap labor subsidized by the American taxpayer through entitlement programs. Furthermore, often illegal immigrants who come to the United States as migrant workers discover the wealth of opportunities that the United States has to offer, and stop working in agriculture, leaving a gap for another batch of illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. Of the estimated 18 million undocumented individuals living in the United States less than 800,000 work in the agriculture industry.
Just as pressing as the economic concerns are the security concerns of being lax on illegal immigration. Our prisons, particularly. According to the US Justice Department 108,000 illegal immigrants were in California jails in 2003, and some estimates say that roughly half of California's prison population is made up of illegal aliens creating a massive strain on the budget. The largest concern, however, is the concern of terrorism, with several Islamic cells based in Mexico. The inability to document those who come and go and to control entry into this country puts us all at risk.
Beyond economics, however, is the social impact that immigration has had on our culture is significant. America comes from a rich tradition of immigrants, coming to this country seeking a better life for themselves and their families. We, as Americans, have celebrated the melting pot that makes up our culture and makes our country unique. Unfortunately, the grand American melting pot has been replaced by the cult of multiculturalism. When the Italians, Poles, Irish, Germans and Jews came to the United States they brought with them their culture and they added the best parts of their traditions to our culture. However, all of these groups faced prejudice and had to adapt to the American way of life, leaving behind certain aspects of their tradition that didn't fit in with life here. The transition was not easy, nor should it be, and eventually all of these groups integrated into society and made significant contributions. More importantly, all the past immigrants came seeking change and a better life and fought hard to be accepted as Americans and were fiercely proud to called an American.
Multiculturalism represents the destruction of the melting pot as its creed is that all immigrants should strive to preserve all aspects of their cultural heritage while living here in the United States. Further, proponents of multiculturalism believe that America should adapt its laws, customs and traditions to fit the cultural leanings of each minority group. In essence, the American tradition should disintegrate into the isolated individual cultures of individual groups. The effects of multiculturalism are staggering as they serve to drive people apart, to stay amongst their own, rather than to integrate into a common culture. Being offensive in a purely multicultural society is the utmost faux-pas and the resulting derision results in stifling freedom of speech. In Europe, multiculturalism has led to the establishment of Islamic courts, as well as the enactment of laws forbidding coed use of a swimming pool, in accordance with Muslim traditions. In the US, we see the impact on the English language with the introduction of bilingual education and the reality that many second and third generation immigrants still struggle with English. The more the politically correct notion of multiculturalism is embraced in this country, the more the individual American suffers with a loss of freedom, because the only tolerated viewpoint in a "progressive" society is the progressive viewpoint, and the more this toxic ideology is embraced, the more viewpoints get crowded out of the marketplace of ideas.
The United States is at a crossroads on the issue of immigration. We need to allow immigrants to legally, and with documentation, enter the country, but we need to stop subsidizing their entry with government handouts. The idea of "sanctuary cities" such as San Francisco, LA and New York, where illegal immigrants can reside freely because the cities will not cooperate with the federal government on immigration control, needs to be crushed through punitive action by the federal government. In order to deter crime by undocumented immigrants, a penalty clause needs to be added to any conviction imposing much more strict sentences for crimes committed by illegal immigrants. Most importantly, though, we must re-embrace the notion that although we are a nation of immigrants, we are, more importantly, a nation of Americans, a nation that can be made better by immigrants. Equally important, we need to embrace the idea of a melting pot and reject multiculturalism, immigrants need to conform to our language and our culture while retaining and adding the best elements of their culture. Immigrants have made this country great, and they need to reject those who tell them not to change and embrace the change and opportunity that they came here for.
