Illegal Aliens Part Two

OK, for those who read my piece on illegal aliens from Tuesday, I told you that I'd have my opinions on what should be done at a later date. This is it. This, in my opinion, is also much more open to debate than the questions of illegals themselves. The aliens broke the law when they came into this country. That settles most of the questions right there. But what we should do or not do is a different kettle of fish.

Here are my two cents, and I'm open to debate on almost all of it.

1) Build a damn fence. I think history has shown pretty damn conclusively that people can and will just walk over the US/Mexican Border. There have been many cases of someone who was deported showing up a week later in the same city he was shipped out of. We can't have that. If Mexicans can just cross the border with impunity, then anyone can. The Border Patrol's job would be much easier if they didn't have miles of open land to guard.

2) Once that fence is built, start deportation. Find an illegal, send him back. Do it as soon as possible. I don't care if he has a job, ship him out on the next plane/boat/van/whatever to his country of origin. Make it clear to the world that if you enter this country illegally, you will be found, captured, and deported. County Sheriffs should also work with the INS to streamline deportation. It's much easier for the INS if the local authorities would be able to ID illegals, detain then, and get them ready for deportation.

3) Work on visa procedures to catch visa violations. Too many people get a student visa, or a work visa, and then just violate the terms of that visa with impunity. If someone is violating the terms of their visa, kick them out. Yesterday.

For those immigrants who have come to this country legally, and are now facing the bureaucracy of the INS, we need to eliminate many of the bullshit red tape hurdles that they face. This can be done rather simply, and at low cost to the USA.

1) Streamline naturalization procedures for legal immigrants who do not use social services. If they can come here, find a job, support themselves, and not need any assistance from the nanny state, they should be frontloaded and given preferred status. If they get here, dump a baby onto the system, and live on welfare for five years, they can bloody well wait to be a citizen.

2) Set a "Service for Citizenship" program in place in the United States military. If a legal immigrant completes five years active duty in the Armed Forces, they become a citizen. This will have a two-fold effect: Force the immigrant to learn English fluently as well as give job skills, discipline, and training to many immigrants, and increase the number of applicants our armed forces receives. Keep in mind that this is not an instant citizen program. Many people flunk out of Basic Training, or get chaptered out of the military. People who fail to complete the five year military duty would not be considered ineligible for citizenship, they would simply need to go about it a different way.

3) Set up an assimilation program for immigrants wanting to become citizens. We can respect other cultures all we want to, but those who want to be a part of our country need to realize that in the culture war, the culture of the country they choose to live in trumps the culture of the country they chose to leave. (The first person to suggest that any form of Shari'a law be put in place in America automatic gets deported, no ifs, ands, or buts.) If you want to wear a veil, dance around in sacred slippers, eat only rabbits that were slaughtered on the second Tuesday of the month, fine. Do that in your house. Outside your front door, you get to deal with American customs and American citizens. America did not get to be a great country by kow-towing to other cultures, we became great by absorbing and transforming other cultures.

I think that all of this would be a great start towards getting illegals out, and allowing those who want to be citizens to get to where they want to be. More importantly, I think that it would impress on those who want to live here that while being a citizen of the USA gives you many rights, it also gives you many responsibilities.

And it's those responsibilities, and those who undertake them, that make this country great.