I am in favor of comprehensive immigration reform. It was too bad that our congress voted down the reform bill that came before them a few years back. Here are some reasons.:
1. We are a nation of immigrants, and that has been one of our greatest strengths. We are not weakened by immigration itself.
2. There are way too many illegal aliens in our country at this point in time. Those who want to stay here to work in honest endeavors should be given a way to do that legally.
3. We need more workers. I am not convinced that illegals do the work that Americans are not willing to do because I see Americans of all kinds of jobs. The problem is that there are not enough workers.
4. If we are going to continue to not only have legalized abortion, but also a climate that favors abortion over live births, then we need to get people from somewhere. Our present policies are not only immoral, but also insane from a human resources point of view.
5. We have an aging population. Most of us cannot expect to draw on the social security that we have been paying into, given the fact that our federal government has shown no interest in modifying the giant Ponsiesqe scheme that they call Social Security. We need younger workers, and there are not enough young Americans at this point in time. The Social Security system is on the verge of collapse.
Some of my reasons may sound kind of cold, but why not allow people into our country who wish to study or work? The immigrants that I have met lately - all of them here legally, BTW - are happy to be here, believing that this country is the best place in the world to be. Why wouldn't we want more people like them living among us? It is uplifting to meet upbeat, happy immigrants.
Yes, they miss their homelands, but are also happy for the opportunities to work and to get an education that they have here.
2 comments:
I don't know about the situation in the U.S.A., I'm just appalled at how, in Canada, it seems the good people have the hardest time coming in but those who abuse our systems don't seem to get official attention.
On the other hand, it's my experience that most people who complain of jobs being "stolen" by immigrants are those who are too lazy and self-important to actually get whatever work will help them climb the latter: you have to start by earning your life honestly before you can be entrusted to more!
In Canada, we talk about helping countries in need.... pie-in-the-sky talk because that would require us to harbour 2/3 of the planet! On the other hand, I'm the 1st to say my country is kept in balanced and enriched by our multi-culturallism which is kept fresh by immigration. (For example, new immigrants from Lebanon tend to think Lebanese-Canadians of a few generations are backwards!)
In all cases, we need to rethink a policy in terms of common-sense. What we have right now is a lot of political smoke-screening of purposes of which we cannot begin to suspect the truth.
Great comments, Robin, and I couldn't agree with you more. It is a complex subject, but comprehensive immigration reform is greatly needed.
Prsident Bush's plan was a good place to start, but his own party shot that down. It had good bi-partisan support, but many started calling it amnesty. Very sad, as far as I'm concerned. President Obama promised to make immigration reform a priority, but we are still waiting.
We could at least start with big fines for those who hire illegals, along with giving more visas to those who wish to come here legally to work. A guest worker program would also be helpful.
Make it harder to enter illegally, and easier to enter legally. It sounds a bit harsh in a way, but many are taken advantage of and even die at the hands of the human smugglers - the coyotes. It is a very sad situation.
I meet many recent immigrants who seem to have the same values and aspirations that former immigrants - like my grand parents from Finland - have had. How can that be harmful to us as a people?
Post a Comment