We Should Control Our Borders

Okay, this is it. We're going to be 'that' guy. We're going to be the one who upsets the party and says what many other party goers are thinking yet are too shy or are too intellectually highbrow to say. We're going to overturn up the apple cart. Yep, that's us. We'll say it.

Borders are real.

Didn't see that coming, did you? We would say that we can't imagine what you were thinking. But we could. And we smiled at the thought. Still, borders are real. They aren't imaginary lines drawn in the sand. They aren't pretend. They exist, as surely as so many other human constructs do. And they mean something as well.

They stand for things. In the United States of America, they stand for a freedom, often abused just the same, to be what we are are. We are the world's laundry agency. At least, we hope and pray we are.

Why are there so many illegals coming here? We will go out on a limb and say that it isn't because of gay marriage. That is surely way down on their list. They did not come here to do the reprehensible. They came here because things aren't so great where they are from originally. And we will say further that gay marriage isn't one of those things. Only the intellectually high brow think that.

They came here because they can't enjoy the freedom to provide for their families there, wherever 'there' is. They came here because 'here' isn't 'there'. They came here because a line in the sand exists, a line drawn not by us, really, but by the people who control where they were from.

Borders exist. And we do not draw them.

Open Borders, Yes; but Illegal aliens are still Illegal

Immigration has become a political football these days. Well, for most of the last century, really. In this light, an article in today's Detroit Free Press speaks to families illegally in the US about their fears as Congress debates immigration reform. Will they be allowed to stay or forced to leave?

The details being discussed aren't particularly important. It is interesting to note that illegals are being called by the Free Press 'undocumented residents' rather than 'illegal aliens'. This is surely an attempt to gloss over the fact that they entered our nation illegally. That fact simply cannot be overlooked: a nation, any nation, has the right to control its borders. Still, we should be moved to pity for at least some of them, those trying to escape terrible conditions at home. What to do, what to do?

We as a nation ought to be willing to accept anyone who wishes to become American become American. It's an old saw that we are a nation of immigrants, and the fact is that we became a great nation in no small way by allowing those who want to live and work in the United States to enter and become citizens. We ought to have relatively liberal immigration laws. Anyone who wants to be here and is no threat to our nation or our way of life should be allowed within our borders.

This makes the question of illegal immigration a tough one. It is not unfair to ask whether we ought to deport illegals or simply make them citizens. Yet it is also not fair to ask those who come in legally to wait in line while others who came in illegally are naturalized by the stroke of a pen.

The best way to deal with the whole immigration issue is to have reasonably open borders. That way, those who are here can be documented and begin to fully participate in the American system. That may require certain things which, on the surface, appear silly. But we could live with deporting illegal immigrants as a matter of principle, while afterwards allowing those same people back in via the proper routes. Give them a front of the line pass, even, for those who have been here for a long while.

Everyone who is no threat to us and are willing to work above board within the United States ought to be accepted here. Only come in the front door, friends. That is not a xenophobic request. It is simply common decency.

Immigration has become something of a political football these days. But it is no less of religious and moral issue as well. The Archdiocese of Detroit has recognized as much, to the point where it is participating in an event today where immigration is the focus. From 10 AM until 2PM this afternoon there will be a conference at Holy Redeemer Church in southwest Detroit which will focus on immigration issues, particularly considering what outreach programs the Church might offer in helping immigrants become accepted into American society as well as make the Church accessible for them. This is as it should be. The Church ought to be at the forefront of immigrant rights. But of course, the Church should be at the forefront of any and all calls for the respect of proper human rights. Especially in areas such as metro Detroit, which has a growing Hispanic population, we need to be aware of and willing to aid our fellow human beings in their search for a better life. We as a nation ought to be willing to accept anyone who wishes to become American become American. It's an old saw that we are a nation of immigrants, and the fact is that we became a great nation in no small way by allowing those who want to live and work in the United States to enter and become citizens. We ought to have relatively liberal immigration laws. Anyone who wants to be here and is no threat to our nation or our way of life should be allowed within our borders. This makes the question of illegal immigration a tough one. It is not unfair to ask whether we ought to deport illegals or simply make them citizens. Yet it is also not fair to ask those who come in legally to wait in line while others who came in illegally are naturalized by a stroke of a pen. The best way to deal with the whole immigration issue is to have reasonably open borders. That way, those who are here can be documented and begin to fully participate in the American system. That may require certain things which, on the surface, appear silly. But we could live with deporting illegal immigrants as a matter of principle, while afterwards allowing those same people back in via the proper routes. Everyone who is no threat to us and are willing to work above board within the United States ought to be accepted here. Only come in the front door, friends. That is not a xenophobic request. It is simply common decency.

Change the 14th Amendment: Fix the Constitution

The 14th Amendment needs to be changed so that we alter the Constitutional nature of birthright citizenship. This is a good and necessary change which is long overdue.

As things are, any child born in the United States is entitled to US citizenship. But this begs the very important question of whether their parents are themselves here legally. Quite frankly, there is nothing immoral, not one little bit, about denying citizenship privileges to the offspring of illegals. Their children are not entitled to it simply and perhaps solely for the reason that they should not have been here to be born in first place.

Such birthright privileges are not fundamental rights. The United States, just like any other nation, has both the right to set reasonable citizenship qualifications as well as to alter its basic law, so long as a true moral evil is not involved. This is nowhere near a moral wrong.

Democrats don't like this idea, as the presumption is that many illegals support them. All right, illegals and their children may lean Democrat. If so, then such becomes another important issue: those not here legally have no right to influence our political system regardless of their personal philosophical leaning. Such things are, at the least, improper and at the most, downright immoral. No non-American citizen has the right to influence the direction of our country. To our libertarian friends we ask: is this really any different than the US attempting to interfere with the internal workings of other countries?

This is not xenophobic. Anyone who wants to become an American citizen who is no threat to our nation ought to be allowed to become citizens: relatively open borders are not a bad thing. But come in through the front door. Because coming in through the back is itself suspect behavior, and grounds alone for denying anyone the rights of legal citizenship.

Rand Paul on Immigration

U.S. Senate hopeful Rand Paul is at it again, only this time on more firm ground. He has said that the babies born here of illegal immigrants should not be granted citizenship. The point has merit and needs to be discussed.

The most immediate and glaring problem with the issue is no less than Paul's own vaunted United States Constitution. The 14th Amendment gives citizenship to everyone born in the United States, so it appears that it would take a Constitutional Amendment to alter that. Yet there are exceptions to that: people must be 'within the jurisdiction' of the United States for the 14th Amendment to apply. This exempts the children of foreign diplomats who may be born on US soil.

That may be the football which Mr. Paul and his associates are willing to run with, seeing as the parents are here wrongly and, at least arguably, not under the pure or complete jurisdiction of Washington. It certainly is not a matter which isolates Rand Paul from the pack. Ninety co-sponsors signed on to the proposed Birthright Citizenship Act introduced into the House last year, which would have exempted the babies of illegals from citizenship.

We're going to throw a little traditionally liberal constitutional argument out there for further consideration. How often do our liberal friends argue that the Constitution is a 'living document' subject to different interpretations through history? Quite often, they tell us that we should not see the Supreme Law of the Land as literal but fluid. Perhaps the amendment makers could not have anticipated the modern situation and would expect us to overlay our current view of what the 14th Amendment means over what they in fact meant. It may be chutzpah for libertarian conservatives to use this approach. But it would be, in this case anyway, delicious.

However the issue is addressed, there is a very real moral point at stake here: do people merit citizenship solely and completely on the basis of being born here? The answer is no. If the Constitution is unclear on the matter, then it must be cleared up. If it is clear but wrong, it must be changed. Rand Paul and his allies are no racists here, either. He was very clear that he doesn't mind people coming here to work and be part of the United States. If they come through the front door.

If there is a more rational and unbiased approach to immigration, we cannot fathom it. If you don't deserve to be here then you don't deserve to be here. It is time we stopped burning our resources on those who do not meet the legitimate standards of citizenship.