The immigration problem
Published September 16, 2016
By Tom Campbell
by Tom Campbell, Executive producer and moderator, NC SPIN, September 15, 2016.
It is fascinating that foreign policy, defense, healthcare, tax reform, government gridlock, human rights, the national debt or even violence and terrorism issues have taken a back seat to the topic of immigration in this election. Our country has always had fears and concerns surrounding immigration, no doubt going back to when Native Americans saw Spanish and British ships off their shores.
Throughout our history we’ve passed laws and regulations as to who can and cannot legally enter our nation, but let’s begin this discussion with the passage of the 1921 Emergency National Quota law, which limited the number of immigrants entering the U.S. each year to 350,000 and capped immigration to three percent of that nationality already in America, based on the 1910 census. Laws were tweaked in the intervening years, but the landmark legislation that changed immigration was the Immigration Act of 1965, which eliminated the nationality quotas.
The 1965 act, initially billed as only a minor change in policy, had far-reaching consequences. It removed restrictions to Asians and Africans, inspired partly by the civil rights movement. It gave preference to northern and western Europeans over southern and eastern Europeans. Immediate relatives and immigrants possessing special skills like ministers, foreign medical graduates, researchers and professors, among others, were exempted from any quotas or limitations. Faced with a burgeoning number of Hispanic and Latin American immigrants (some 47 percent of all immigrations) the law imposed immigration quotas on Latin America. Stymied by the ability to enter legally, floods of people did so illegally. According to the 2011 census projections, the non-Hispanic white population decreased from 75 percent in 1990 to 63 percent.
Immigration has become an emotionally charged campaign issue. Concerns and, to a lesser extent fears, are real and reflect poorly on a government that has ineptly dealt with the problem. Building a wall between our country and Mexico is a manifestation of the frustration many citizens feel, even though the project is prohibitively expensive and not likely to solve the overall immigration problem. Similarly, the proposal to deport hundreds of thousands is both prohibitively expensive and would be a logistical nightmare.
Repercussions from this lack of a well-defined and realistic immigration policy are being felt throughout, most especially in states like North Carolina, that experience a huge influx of both legal and undocumented immigrations. It is placing incredible strains on schools, social services, healthcare agencies and public infrastructure, creating work overloads and budget shortfalls at state and local levels.
Immigration is a federal problem. Congress has been either unwilling or unable to find solutions that will assure that we admit people needed in high-tech and even manual laborers while also providing reasonable, measurable and controllable access to our country.
We can and we must demand solutions that keep our doors open without being unduly burdensome to those already here. We can be both humanitarians and responsible realists.
With the exception of those Native Americans we are all immigrants and thankful to be so. Let us remember the plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty proclaims, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost, to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
September 16, 2016 at 10:21 am
Richard L Bunce says:
Actually the First Peoples were immigrants as well... just the first.
President Obama's Executive Memo immigration policy has it just about right. Essentially unlimited work visas and no new path to citizenship.
End the government War On Drugs as well and unauthorized entry into the US will be significantly reduced. Turn over management of persons on temporary authorizations (visas, etc) to a competent third party instead of incompetent government bureaucrats so we know when those persons are supposed to leave and another significant source of unauthorized visitors will be eliminated.
No need for new paths to citizenship and massive new government bureaucracies which will not solve the unauthorized persons in the US issue.
September 16, 2016 at 7:23 pm
Norm Kelly says:
'the proposal to deport hundreds of thousands is both prohibitively expensive and would be a logistical nightmare.'
Yet deporting all these illegals is not necessary. Nor is it proposed by any candidate. What is the solution? Does it take 'big government' action to solve this problem? No. It takes leadership and willingness. There are laws on the books regarding hiring and employment of illegal aliens. It's time to enforce those laws. It's time to eliminate, through whatever means necessary, sanctuary municipalities. Sanctuary municipalities are illegal and should be shut down through financial pressure if necessary, but by whatever means necessary. Meaning by force, if necessary. In NC municipalities exist at the 'whim' of the Legislature. The Legislature should remove the charter for any sanctuary municipality if it's the only way to force them to stop their illegal activity.
Why is it that libs are so willing to accept illegal acts? On what basis does ANY lib pol, especially the Hildaliar representing the Clinton Crime Family foundation, get a pass for so obviously breaking the law? Any conservative can say the most passive obviously non-racist comment, and libs/race whores/'black leaders'/lib media allies come out of the wood work to point the finger of racism/women-hater/bigot at the conservative in question. Like 'Make America Great Again'. Perfect example. America is definitely NOT great under the current unqualified socialist law-breaking community organizer occupying the White House. So, The Donald uses an appropriate phrase to stir his base, and point the finger of blame where it belongs, squarely at the demon party. What's the result? His use of the phrase, like everything else he says, is considered racist. But only by demons and their lib media allies. Thinking people KNOW that this has nothing to do with race. Cuz the first black president, the dishonorable Billy Boy, used that phrase often, and for some illogical lib reason was not considered racist.
So, back to facts. No pol is suggesting government deportation of illegal aliens. But demons are suggesting that we take in unknown mooslum radicals in outrageous numbers, we are not just to allow those illegals already here, but we must allow even more illegal aliens to enter the country uncontrollably, and we are to allow and/or expand illegal sanctuary municipalities.
All at the same time raising taxes on American citizens to pay for illegal demon activity.
When will libs STOP accepting illegal acts by their 'leaders'? Probably at the same time that libs stop referring to EVERYTHING conservative as either racist or woman-hating. Meaning both will stop when it gets really cold in that place opposite Heaven. Cuz without race baiting, what do libs/demons have to stand on?
What a waste of space, time, air, most libs, and all lib pols, especially the Clinton Family Crime organization, truly are. Nothing acceptable/admirable about lib/demon pols. And when will lib pols start telling at least half truths? It would be an improvement.
