Immigration

America has been greatly enriched by immigration. I agree with the “Give me your tired, your poor, your weary, yearning to be free...” statement. However, immigration must be done in a lawful manner, not just anyone should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S., and immigrants should have to fulfill some reasonable requirements. We need a temporarily halt to immigration, and fix this badly broken system first. I have nothing against the Mexicans or any other ethnicity or race, but we are not doing them any favors if we encourage them to become criminals.

For clarification, when I say “illegal immigrant”, I mean anyone who knowingly, willingly, and illegally came into the United States from another country. If someone overstays a legal visa for a short time, this is a crime, but it is not as serious. I would exclude young children who were smuggled across the border from my definition of “illegal immigrant”.

I am against amnesty for illegals. I define amnesty as being the elimination or reduction of penalties or punishments required by law for a crime, after the crime has been committed. They should not be given Driver’s licenses, State IDs. This or another verifiable form of ID (but not Social Security Card or Number or any National form of ID) should be required in order to get a job in the U.S. Non-citizens should never receive welfare or any other taxpayer-supported benefits. All law enforcement agencies should be required to promptly deport illegals in their custody. I agree with the efforts of the Minutemen to stop illegals from entering this country. If the government won’t do its job, then the people should rise up to do it!

Tariff rates on a foreign country and suspension of visa privileges should be partially tied to their willingness to take measures to stop illegal immigration into the U.S. from said country. I call for the use of U.S. troops (National Guard or Army) to protect the states against invasion. This would have been a much better use of our military than going to war with Iraq (remember the first Gulf War also).

Some of the land bordering Mexico is owned by private citizens. The U.S. Government should make efforts to purchase portions of this land in order to beef up security. This would be one of the few cases where the use of eminent domain would be legal and beneficial. I call on the president to stop blocking the implementation of bills passed to build a fence to keep out illegal aliens.

All laws concerning legal naturalization should be approved by Congress (Article I section 8), and subject to Constitutionality.

Anyone born to parents who are already U.S. citizens or who marries a U.S. citizen should receive free citizenship in the U.S. regardless of where they are born. If someone receives U.S. citizenship by a marriage which ends in divorce, then he/she should be required to be naturalized again in order to remain a citizen. When someone receives citizenship, this does not automatically grant citizenship to his/her spouse or children. They must also be naturalized. Someone should not automatically become a citizen just because they are born on U.S. soil. The 14th Amendment applies only to those “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, and should not include those who have already been made a citizen of or who are automatically eligible for citizenship in another country. I favor a federal law to clarify this point.

I support a moratorium on immigration to the United States, except for spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens or in extreme hardship cases or in other individual special circumstances, until the availability of all federal subsidies and assistance be discontinued, and proper security procedures have been instituted to protect against terrorist infiltration. After these conditions are met, I would not be in favor limiting the yearly number of immigrants to the U.S. Instead I would require that immigrants pay for their citizenship, an amount equal to at least that which would cover any possible financial benefits (from the government) they would receive by becoming a citizen, less what they would pay in taxes.

I call for the federal government restore immigration policies based on the practice that potential immigrants will be disqualified from admission to the U.S. if, on the grounds of health, criminality, morals, or financial dependence, they would impose an improper burden on the United States, any state, or any citizen of the United States. Immigrants should have to pay a fee which would cover the cost of screening potential immigrants on this basis. If an immigrant has citizenship in another country, and their citizenship makes requirements of them that are inconsistent with U.S. laws, then that citizenship must be voided before they can become a U.S. citizen. I am against the idea of prohibiting immigration based on race, ethnicity, religion, or country of origin, as the Constitution states that naturalization laws must be uniform.

The idea of using charity donations to pay for the cost of an immigrant to come to this country is a good one, especially for an immigrant who is being mistreated by his/her government on the basis of race, religion, or political beliefs. I want U.S. citizens to help people from other countries to able to experience the freedoms that we have in this country. It is not a good idea to use tax dollars for this purpose.

I would reform the visa preference system to give priority to reuniting nuclear family members such as spouses and minor children, and ending the chain migration of extended family relatives.

I insist that those who wish to take part in the electoral process and governance of this nation be required to read and comprehend basic English as a precondition of citizenship. I support English as the official language for all governmental business by the United States. They should also be required to learn about American History and U.S. laws, especially the Constitution.

I also insist that every individual group and/or private agency which requests the admission of an immigrant to the U.S., on whatever basis, be required to commit legally to provide housing and sustenance for such immigrants, bear full responsibility for the economic independence of the immigrants, and post appropriate bonds to seal such covenants.

I would bar the importation of temporary foreign workers. They reduce the wages, working conditions, and incomes of American workers. However, there is nothing unbiblical or unconstitutional about this concept. It is an economic issue. I would be willing to compromise and support a bill containing a guest worker program (or expansion thereof) only if it would contain the following provisions:

1. There would be no amnesty for illegal immigrants (see my above definitions).
2. Criminals, including illegal immigrants, would not be allowed to participate in the program.
3. The program would be open to any corporation or citizen who wished to participate and was willing to follow the guidelines of the program. The participants would not be hand-picked (pardon the pun) as they are now.
4. The workers and the corporations would be subject to all the same laws as any other employers and employees. These laws would be enforced equally.
5. Local law enforcement officials would at least be allowed to turn over illegal immigrants to the proper authorities who would then deport them.
6. Corporations would be given stiff fines for hiring illegal immigrants. There would be no acceptable excuses for not knowing that someone was illegal.
7. There would be no “pathway to citizenship” or any possibility of legal reentry for illegal immigrants until they have paid the full penalty of their crimes and have been "sent to the back of the line".
8. All government benefits (including ID cards, voting rights, education, and Social Security benefits) for illegal immigrants would be cut off.
9. There would be increased border patrols and/or a wall built at the border to stop illegal immigration.