Legal Immigration, Assimilation & the American Dream

Since gaining our independence, America has been the world's host to dreamers all over the earth. For those who truly yearn for the opportunity to pursue a better life and possess the desire to work, sacrifice and learn; the United States of America has been the fertile soil in which foreign dreams bloom into prosperity. Our country is the globe's greatest example of a free, democratic, generous society largely because of immigrants from foreign soils. Though never losing their identity or cultural heritages from their own "Mother Lands," immigrants to the U.S. have always put their love of this "Land of Opportunity" first. They studied our history, embraced our laws and core beliefs and taught their children our language. In so doing, immigrants have contributed mightily to the richness and diversity of the American way...and to its uncommon success.

For the last decade or so, the traditions of legal immigration, and its underpinning laws, have been usurped. 75% of American citizens want illegal immigration controlled. We have a constitutional republic with specific codes to govern the legal immigration of those who want to become U.S. citizens. In North Carolina and in many other states, illegal immigration is overwhelming our budgets. We are putting huge strains on health care, public services, law enforcement, schools and other taxpayer-funded programs just when our economy is at its weakest in thirty years. It is not just our budgets that are suffering; illegal immigration is destroying our identity. The common threads that unite us all as Americans are being sheared by illegal immigrants who are unwilling to pursue the American Dream legally, unwilling to speak the American language and unwilling to contribute back to the economy from which they graft.

So what do we do? There are four things that must be done to reverse the unhealthy and unsustainable flow of illegal aliens:

1) We must secure our borders and hold perpetrators (and their countries of origin) accountable
2) We must crack down on intentional hiring of illegal aliens by employers
3) We must empower law enforcement to truly "enforce" established immigration law
4) We must eliminate all benefits (licenses, welfare, in-state tuition, etc...) for illegal aliens

This is not as difficult an issue as many in D.C. and Raleigh want us to believe. If 75% of us are for these measures, we should quell the endless debates and get on with the implementation. It's time for action. If your elected representatives don't have the guts, then support those that do. Our American Dream is too important to be held hostage by those to weak to defend it or too selfish to honor it. After all, it's not just our dream...it's the dream and the example to most freedom-loving people all over the world.