Rant on.

Standing tall on a tiny island in New York Harbor is somebody most of this country is familiar with:  Lady Liberty.  At the base of this historic statue is a quote most of us have heard and associated with her:

Give me your tired, your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Based on current national attitudes, this bit is apparently due for an edit.  Perhaps something like:

Give me your yearning to breathe free
But stay out of my country

Once upon a time, the U.S. was a melting pot.  The place to go if you wanted to be free.  Now, the attitude towards foreigners is fairly hostile.  The fact is, coming to this country legally is difficult and conversion to citizenship is a complicated and lengthy process.  Walk through that chart and it’s easy to see why so many step around the law and sneak into the country.

Most of those who sneak into the country are the “tired and poor” (emphasis on poor) who are happy to make enough to squeeze their family into cramped living quarters.  They do the crap jobs the legal Americans won’t.  Most of the time, they receive little thanks, and if they are discovered they are deported without a thought.

America is no stranger to illegal immigrants, either.  Ask any Native American–those with American Indian heritage if you prefer–and those with any pride in their ancestry will tell you of the pale-skinned immigrants who came to their lands and took it over.  Now those pale-skinned folks are trying are fighting a losing battle to keep illegal immigrants out themselves.

What’s the answer?  That’s a little complicated.  I understand we don’t want to let everybody into the country who wants in.  There are more than a few criminal folks who see the U.S. as a safe haven from their crooked activities in other lands.  Even if we could successfully block only that element, we would have too many coming into the U.S.  Ideally, it would be nice to let everybody in, but the practical reality is that we don’t have the infrastructure to support that.  Our support system is already strained in many places.

Still, let’s find a starting place.  For example, the possibility of letting illegal immigrant’s children become citizens has been raised.  I support this for two simple reasons:  The kids had no choice, and often don’t know their “home country.”  Many were born in the U.S. which, to my point of view, makes this country their homeland anyway.  A large number don’t even speak the language of the land their parents came from.  Sending them there is a losing proposition.

My point is that there needs to be an easier path to citizenship, although not just a wide open door.  I want people in this country who really want to be here.  Let them serve in the military for a few years if they are young enough, or in unskilled government jobs if not.  Let them boost our economy by paying taxes, something which, as illegal immigrants, they most certainly do not do.  Find a path in, one which challenges their desire to stay.  Let them prove they want to be here because they want to be here.  Blindly doing anything, such as deporting all of them or letting them all in is a bad idea.

Rant off.