The immigration issue Matthew Straub/ Columnist
We live in a country that was built on immigrants. Ever
since the Puritans landed in Massachusetts and Jamestown was
founded, immigrants have been coming to this country in large
numbers.
First, the Puritans and Quakers, then as time went on, the
Germans, Italians, Jews and others came to the land of
opportunity in search of a better life and riches that were
rumored to be found in America.
There are people coming from all over the world to try and
live the American dream. The majority of these people come
from Latin America. Most of these people come to avoid
poverty in places such as Chiapas, Mexico, where conditions
are compared to sub-Saharan Africa in terms of
poverty.
As much as we all want to welcome these immigrants, we have
to come to terms with the fact that it is a serious danger to
allow people to come into our country undocumented and
unchecked.
We run the risk of these people bringing infectious diseases
and people with extensive criminal records coming to the U.S.
and committing crimes.
There is also the outside chance that such an influx of
immigrants could effectively change the makeup of this
country to the point where the language changes every time a
large group arrives.
It may be Spanish now, but it could be Chinese in the
future. We must keep our national identity and it cannot
constantly change with each immigrant group. It is extremely
important to assimilate the current immigrants.
It is a known fact that immigrants who speak English in this
country have better jobs and have less of a chance of living
in abstract poverty.
There is also the issue of security. An opinion poll
conducted in Mexico found that two-thirds of all Mexicans
believe that the Southwest portion of the U.S. rightfully
belongs to Mexico.
There are several groups actively campaigning to make this
issue known.
However, this isn’t the big threat. The most
frightening threat is from Islamic militants who sneak across
the border with the intention to attack our country. This is
happening right now.
Ranchers on the border have found Islamic prayer blankets on
their property. This suggests that Islamic militants may be
trying to exploit our southern border. The cost of flying
from the Middle East to Mexico and being smuggled across the
border would certainly cause us to question if they were
searching for a better life or were here to cause us
harm.
History also tells us that we need a secure border and must
not give amnesty to illegal immigrants. The Roman Empire
allowed immigrants into its empire and gave them Roman
citizenship only for the Visigoths under Alaric I to turn on
Rome and sack it in 410 A.D.
Additionally, we need to be mindful of the fact that
sometimes it can be very hard to group people together who
have been fighting for many years.
We have been very lucky to not have had this problem, but
whenever you mix rival groups you run the risk of
conflict.
A good example is the former Yugoslavia. When Tito’s
reign ended, it was hard to keep the different ethnic groups
together and we now have a Balkans that is no longer
consolidated and where ethnic violence has flared up from
time to time.
In general, a country must have control of its borders. If a
country does not control its borders, it cannot guarantee the
security of the country. The solution to the immigrants from
Central America is within the immigrants and countries
themselves.
In Mexico, the solution to its poverty problem is to send
its poor to our country, while the politicians and a few
business people fill their pockets with most of the
country’s wealth.
If there was real reform in Mexico and in Latin America,
there would be less poverty and less of a need for people to
come here.
For now, we need to look at the Canadian guest-worker
system, where the employer provides shelter and adequate pay
while the government provides money for the workers who leave
after their visa expires to receive a home paid by the
employer.
A wall will help a little bit, but the only lasting solution
lies in reforming the countries where the immigrants come
from.
Contact Matthew Straub at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247. | 
