Immigration Dilemma
Immigration Dilemma 6/13/2010
Forbes’ June 28 issue carried a trio of articles on Immigration that caught my attention because of its range of views, from the bizarre to the realistic, about a critical subject.
As a former immigrant myself (1953) I have been particularly sensitive to and chagrined by the abuse of our borders and the slow but steady loosening of our cultural disciplines.
Why? Because the early 20-ieth century United States of America was a country with a deep belief in the lessons of its history going back to Founding Days. We created and lived in a distinct and what became a unique cultural environment. An environment that since 1789 has guided, not always successfully, our social, educational, political and economic activities. This powerful and unusual national experience molded our citizens into Americans and a nation, becoming the envy of the world.
Natural born American citizens as well as new immigrants all wanted the same thing. To work hard, be honorable and generous to those who might need some help while constantly improving yourself. Most immigrants assimilated within a generation and gained a better economic and social future for themselves and families. Welfare did not exist but some charity flourished. The world had never seen anything like it. For many in the outside world it seemed like paradise and the place to go. Including myself.
Shortly after the end of WW II, this country’s disciplined and unique cultural profile was still operational in America, our land borders were reasonably unmolested while the coasts were well guarded. I went through exhaustive interviews, tests (language, medical, background, education) to just obtain a 1-year visa for study in the USA in 1950-’51. Afterwards, in 1953 when I immigrated, the FBI also got into the act. And justifiably so. Since I requested to enter the USA it had every right to determine if it wanted me as a prospective citizen. I have never been offended by this process and still believe every immigrant should be so treated.
What Mr. Legrain in his wide ranging but shallow article omits to recognize is the fact that what made America so successful and attractive was its very special 200 year culture. Today, it is easy to ridicule the country’s fundamental beliefs and social practices but they were and still are essential in melding its immigrant population into a cohesive national whole.
America’s recognized generosity of spirit and action, its pride in improving oneself through hard work and decent behavior became legendary and a magnet for more and more foreigners intent on finding a way to participate in this opportunity. This was a winning situation for both sides, the country and its immigrants but only as long as the immigrants were desirous to assimilate in this culture as soon as possible, by learning the language and working hard at any job, just to be here and improve oneself and the country.
Two developments spoiled this critical condition. The 1930-ies Depression followed by WW II and our unique post war economic growth.
After WW II, this country’s admirable culture, compared to most others, started a slow and fundamental change. Exactly those aspects of it that might be considered most critical in molding millions of immigrants into a body of principled and dedicated citizens gave way to increased permissiveness and a loss of personal accountability. For instance, improving economic conditions slowly removed the need for children to earn money in support of the family’s needs or just for personal spending purposes thus continuing the appreciation for hard work and sociability. Newspaper routes and mowing lawns went out of style among a variety of changes, and many parents increasingly could afford for their children to have a good time, do sports and have “fun”, allowing personal “hard work” to become unpopular.
These improving economic conditions in the post WW II period slowly began to attract seasonal labor from South of the Border. Those borders were essentially wide open and certainly Mexico made no efforts to keep its citizens inside its own territory. As an aside and apart from very recent activities, actual border control was attempted systematically for the last time during the Eisenhower administration as far as I remember. The rest is history.
Cheap labor became plentiful, willing to pick fruit, mow lawns and do all kinds of other stoop labor. Most of it was illegal, because no one was watching the border and the immigrants became essential to several industries.
Eventually, well meaning people started programs to help these “immigrants” because they were “poor” in our eyes and particularly the children became objects of concern. As long as the total numbers of immigrants were low and seasonal, this condition, from a national security point of view was essentially ignored. But by the time many of those immigrants turned into permanent “visitors” and second and third generation offspring invaded our traditional social, educational and business landscape, it became clear that their own political demands and social preferences were creating national political, economic and social conflicts.
Today, many people decry the fact that we did not control our borders when we should have. And I agree that as a country we were too busy with other priorities for many years to realize the problem we were growing in our midst as a consequence thereof.
From where I sit, as a former immigrant who went through all the necessary checks to qualify for a green-card, this whole “illegal” immigration problem is a self-made dilemma. We allowed our own laws of territorial sovereignty to be broken with impunity. While it could have been prevented, possibly with harsh means in the beginning together with tough, bi-lateral agreements later, we failed to do anything effective.
And for a very long time, post WW II, if I had been one of those poor and hungry people living close to the American Garden of Eden accessible to the enterprising, I would go for it too. Why not? Apparently the people running the place had reasons not to worry about it too much that foreigners were waltzing in and out of the place at any time.
But now that we have tens of millions of Hispanic immigrants, a large percentage of which never learned to speak decent English, plus some 12 million “illegals” there is a hue and cry to turn back the clock. But that’s never possible and we better realize it.
If our American culture is to survive in the best tradition of its objectives we need to admit to having lost sight of some fundamentals and therefore make ourselves use the next election to choose representatives who have spine, understand economic fundamentals and honor traditional American values.
We made a very bad mistake years ago by neglecting our borders but now, in order to re-establish “control” of the current and future situation we will have to make amends to most of the immigrants now here and willing to work. Although it bothers me to recommend that “law-breakers” will get away with it, we did it to ourselves. We must pay the price, not those who took advantage of our self-serving carelessness. One might ask, are these people really “law-breakers” or just “opportunists”?? Who wouldn’t have done the same thing given the prevailing circumstances. We left the door open and they came through. Can you blame them?? We should blame ourselves and get on with it.
However, the door must now be closed and lawbreakers henceforth should be dealt with harshly. The Mexican Government should be put on notice that we expect them to take serious and effective measures to prevent illegal border crossings into the USA. Consequences of ignoring our request will be severe for those flaunting them.
So what do we do now.??
1 To make proper amends, we must provide a path to amnesty for current “illegals”, as of a certain date, but:
2 We demand that everyone who is here, legally or illegally, learns to speak and read decent English within 3 years or else will be repatriated without a second chance.
3 Kids will be required to go to school, all the way through high-school. Dropping out will be reason for repatriation permanently.
4 Offspring of legal marriages of immigrants will not be granted US citizenship even after parents have successfully become citizens. They will have to apply for that themselves later on at age 18. Military service might make a difference. Only children born from US citizens will automatically become US citizens at birth.
5 Spanish must be eliminated from all school texts and as a requirement of government and businesses to “facilitate” communication. Schools may continue to teach courses in Spanish, but only to English speakers as a second language requirement. Immigrant children will learn English and nothing but until they are fluent. Government will do away with all Spanish in government operations, including all forms and rules requiring Spanish as a second “official” language.
6 English will be formally adopted as the only and national language of the USA.
7 We need to make immigrants understand that a path to citizenship must be earned and will not be “given”.
8 Immigrants who develop a criminal record will automatically forfeit any chance to become citizens and will be repatriated permanently.
It seems to me that Mr Legrain cannot be serious about just opening the door to everybody who wants to come here. I question his statistics particularly because most non-hispanic immigrants need to come through Canada or directly into the US. Few non-hispanics use our “open” southern border. In other words, opening the door would significantly change the dynamics of new immigrants’ arrival here since all restraints would be off.
We would be overwhelmed and back to the days of the 19th century when neither passports, nor health certificates were required to enter here.
We would be inundated and in relatively short order would lose our American identity. The new arrivals, from heaven knows where, would likely coalesce into “tribal” configurations just for reasons of survival. Becoming Americans would be the last thing on their minds. But government help, a la Europe, would be expected and bankrupt us financially, politically and culturally.
There are billions of very poor people out there who would find ways to come here. Remember the Vietnam boat people! Mr. Legrain would be too young to have any personal memories of that. His is a very bad and very un-American suggestion.
America is a very desirable place to emigrate to because for a long time we enjoyed more personal freedom and the best opportunities for education and personal accomplishments. Although we are currently in the process of destroying some of these fundamentals, it may just be a temporary issue.
In my view Ms. MacDonald and Mr. Helman currently see things much more realistically than Mr. Legrain and their reservations should weigh heavily in our considerations to right this terrible immigration wrong as soon as possible, once and for all.
Frederik Engel
Forbes’ June 28 issue carried a trio of articles on Immigration that caught my attention because of its range of views, from the bizarre to the realistic, about a critical subject.
As a former immigrant myself (1953) I have been particularly sensitive to and chagrined by the abuse of our borders and the slow but steady loosening of our cultural disciplines.
Why? Because the early 20-ieth century United States of America was a country with a deep belief in the lessons of its history going back to Founding Days. We created and lived in a distinct and what became a unique cultural environment. An environment that since 1789 has guided, not always successfully, our social, educational, political and economic activities. This powerful and unusual national experience molded our citizens into Americans and a nation, becoming the envy of the world.
Natural born American citizens as well as new immigrants all wanted the same thing. To work hard, be honorable and generous to those who might need some help while constantly improving yourself. Most immigrants assimilated within a generation and gained a better economic and social future for themselves and families. Welfare did not exist but some charity flourished. The world had never seen anything like it. For many in the outside world it seemed like paradise and the place to go. Including myself.
Shortly after the end of WW II, this country’s disciplined and unique cultural profile was still operational in America, our land borders were reasonably unmolested while the coasts were well guarded. I went through exhaustive interviews, tests (language, medical, background, education) to just obtain a 1-year visa for study in the USA in 1950-’51. Afterwards, in 1953 when I immigrated, the FBI also got into the act. And justifiably so. Since I requested to enter the USA it had every right to determine if it wanted me as a prospective citizen. I have never been offended by this process and still believe every immigrant should be so treated.
What Mr. Legrain in his wide ranging but shallow article omits to recognize is the fact that what made America so successful and attractive was its very special 200 year culture. Today, it is easy to ridicule the country’s fundamental beliefs and social practices but they were and still are essential in melding its immigrant population into a cohesive national whole.
America’s recognized generosity of spirit and action, its pride in improving oneself through hard work and decent behavior became legendary and a magnet for more and more foreigners intent on finding a way to participate in this opportunity. This was a winning situation for both sides, the country and its immigrants but only as long as the immigrants were desirous to assimilate in this culture as soon as possible, by learning the language and working hard at any job, just to be here and improve oneself and the country.
Two developments spoiled this critical condition. The 1930-ies Depression followed by WW II and our unique post war economic growth.
After WW II, this country’s admirable culture, compared to most others, started a slow and fundamental change. Exactly those aspects of it that might be considered most critical in molding millions of immigrants into a body of principled and dedicated citizens gave way to increased permissiveness and a loss of personal accountability. For instance, improving economic conditions slowly removed the need for children to earn money in support of the family’s needs or just for personal spending purposes thus continuing the appreciation for hard work and sociability. Newspaper routes and mowing lawns went out of style among a variety of changes, and many parents increasingly could afford for their children to have a good time, do sports and have “fun”, allowing personal “hard work” to become unpopular.
These improving economic conditions in the post WW II period slowly began to attract seasonal labor from South of the Border. Those borders were essentially wide open and certainly Mexico made no efforts to keep its citizens inside its own territory. As an aside and apart from very recent activities, actual border control was attempted systematically for the last time during the Eisenhower administration as far as I remember. The rest is history.
Cheap labor became plentiful, willing to pick fruit, mow lawns and do all kinds of other stoop labor. Most of it was illegal, because no one was watching the border and the immigrants became essential to several industries.
Eventually, well meaning people started programs to help these “immigrants” because they were “poor” in our eyes and particularly the children became objects of concern. As long as the total numbers of immigrants were low and seasonal, this condition, from a national security point of view was essentially ignored. But by the time many of those immigrants turned into permanent “visitors” and second and third generation offspring invaded our traditional social, educational and business landscape, it became clear that their own political demands and social preferences were creating national political, economic and social conflicts.
Today, many people decry the fact that we did not control our borders when we should have. And I agree that as a country we were too busy with other priorities for many years to realize the problem we were growing in our midst as a consequence thereof.
From where I sit, as a former immigrant who went through all the necessary checks to qualify for a green-card, this whole “illegal” immigration problem is a self-made dilemma. We allowed our own laws of territorial sovereignty to be broken with impunity. While it could have been prevented, possibly with harsh means in the beginning together with tough, bi-lateral agreements later, we failed to do anything effective.
And for a very long time, post WW II, if I had been one of those poor and hungry people living close to the American Garden of Eden accessible to the enterprising, I would go for it too. Why not? Apparently the people running the place had reasons not to worry about it too much that foreigners were waltzing in and out of the place at any time.
But now that we have tens of millions of Hispanic immigrants, a large percentage of which never learned to speak decent English, plus some 12 million “illegals” there is a hue and cry to turn back the clock. But that’s never possible and we better realize it.
If our American culture is to survive in the best tradition of its objectives we need to admit to having lost sight of some fundamentals and therefore make ourselves use the next election to choose representatives who have spine, understand economic fundamentals and honor traditional American values.
We made a very bad mistake years ago by neglecting our borders but now, in order to re-establish “control” of the current and future situation we will have to make amends to most of the immigrants now here and willing to work. Although it bothers me to recommend that “law-breakers” will get away with it, we did it to ourselves. We must pay the price, not those who took advantage of our self-serving carelessness. One might ask, are these people really “law-breakers” or just “opportunists”?? Who wouldn’t have done the same thing given the prevailing circumstances. We left the door open and they came through. Can you blame them?? We should blame ourselves and get on with it.
However, the door must now be closed and lawbreakers henceforth should be dealt with harshly. The Mexican Government should be put on notice that we expect them to take serious and effective measures to prevent illegal border crossings into the USA. Consequences of ignoring our request will be severe for those flaunting them.
So what do we do now.??
1 To make proper amends, we must provide a path to amnesty for current “illegals”, as of a certain date, but:
2 We demand that everyone who is here, legally or illegally, learns to speak and read decent English within 3 years or else will be repatriated without a second chance.
3 Kids will be required to go to school, all the way through high-school. Dropping out will be reason for repatriation permanently.
4 Offspring of legal marriages of immigrants will not be granted US citizenship even after parents have successfully become citizens. They will have to apply for that themselves later on at age 18. Military service might make a difference. Only children born from US citizens will automatically become US citizens at birth.
5 Spanish must be eliminated from all school texts and as a requirement of government and businesses to “facilitate” communication. Schools may continue to teach courses in Spanish, but only to English speakers as a second language requirement. Immigrant children will learn English and nothing but until they are fluent. Government will do away with all Spanish in government operations, including all forms and rules requiring Spanish as a second “official” language.
6 English will be formally adopted as the only and national language of the USA.
7 We need to make immigrants understand that a path to citizenship must be earned and will not be “given”.
8 Immigrants who develop a criminal record will automatically forfeit any chance to become citizens and will be repatriated permanently.
It seems to me that Mr Legrain cannot be serious about just opening the door to everybody who wants to come here. I question his statistics particularly because most non-hispanic immigrants need to come through Canada or directly into the US. Few non-hispanics use our “open” southern border. In other words, opening the door would significantly change the dynamics of new immigrants’ arrival here since all restraints would be off.
We would be overwhelmed and back to the days of the 19th century when neither passports, nor health certificates were required to enter here.
We would be inundated and in relatively short order would lose our American identity. The new arrivals, from heaven knows where, would likely coalesce into “tribal” configurations just for reasons of survival. Becoming Americans would be the last thing on their minds. But government help, a la Europe, would be expected and bankrupt us financially, politically and culturally.
There are billions of very poor people out there who would find ways to come here. Remember the Vietnam boat people! Mr. Legrain would be too young to have any personal memories of that. His is a very bad and very un-American suggestion.
America is a very desirable place to emigrate to because for a long time we enjoyed more personal freedom and the best opportunities for education and personal accomplishments. Although we are currently in the process of destroying some of these fundamentals, it may just be a temporary issue.
In my view Ms. MacDonald and Mr. Helman currently see things much more realistically than Mr. Legrain and their reservations should weigh heavily in our considerations to right this terrible immigration wrong as soon as possible, once and for all.
Frederik Engel
posted by Schaesberg at 2:29 AM
