There’s a lot of noise about America’s immigration policy. What do you think? Is what is in place well reasoned? Does it serve the security interests of the nation? Does it keep us protected from disease spread, public health concerns? Does your social security rest on the results of bad immigration policy?
Perhaps America should establish a merit-based immigration system. What an idea right? We might make an immigration system in which America selects the majority of future immigrants based on skills. What new arrivals can contribute may be worth considering. Do you think this should be part of immigration policy?
What we have today is essentially a majority family-based system. Does this seem dated? Is nepotism how we want to or should view immigration policy? Is that the right lens to use? Our existing system is one in which immigrants select future immigrants based on relations. Just think about it.
What do you think; should we end chain migration? Should our Congress cut all or almost all of the current family preferences for extended family? Doing so ends chain migration. What do your Congressmen and Senators think about chain migration? You just held an election. Did you ask them?
America today has a policy of granting universal birthright citizenship. By granting immediate citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, regardless of the legal status of the parents, we reward and encourage illegal and exploitative immigration. Should we end universal birthright citizenship? Should babies have the citizenship of their parents instead of U.S. citizenship? Does this help cut down on illegal immigration?
America’s border security is insufficient for the task. Should we implement effective border security? Do you support changing and upgrading border enforcement? Perhaps we should give immigration law judges summary judgment and contempt authority. Would you support such action? Can we have a country if we do not have secure borders?
Do you support granting amnesty to illegal aliens? If we do that it clearly undermines the rule of law. How can we expect others to respect the rule of law when we do not do so ourselves? What’s more problematic is granting amnesty encourages more unlawful migration. It is long past time to think through the issues related to immigration.
Many countries around the world; Canada, Australia, and the U.K. use merit-based immigration systems. In Canada 56% of immigrants and in Australia 62% of immigrants are merit-based. Here in America fewer than 15% come through merit.
We know in 2016, illegal immigrant births accounted for 7.5% of all births in the U.S., That’s over 297,000. Still think people don’t come here illegally to have babies and put down their anchor? How about this stat: The number of illegal border crossers apprehended or individuals deemed inadmissible at ports of entry more than doubled from 2018 to 2019. Cause for concern?
How about this as a cause for urgency in your consideration: As of October 24, 2018, 786,303 immigration cases were pending in immigration courts, up from 186,090 in 2008. Or, it is estimated that almost half of the illegal immigrants in the U.S. came here legally and then overstayed their visas.
America is a great place. Shouldn’t we keep her safe, prosperous, and free? Does our current immigration policy keep the American people safe, prosperous, and free? Our current legal immigration system is not functioning flawlessly. We should consider if it is outdated and whether it fails both immigrants and Americans.
Prioritizing “merit,” meaning the ways immigrants can contribute to the country. That should be a consideration in our process. Should our system be based on family connections? A better selection process helps ensure immigrants can thrive in our country. It has the additional benefit of maximizing the benefits of immigration for Americans.
We have a responsibility to secure the border and enforce our existing laws. The problem with amnesty is clear: It only encourages more unlawful immigration. Worse it unfairly favors those who came to this country illegally over those who follow our laws. Amnesty exacerbates our issues with and threatens to overwhelm our already unaffordable and failing entitlement programs. Do you want to stake your social security on bad immigration policy?
