Trying to decide on a first article or issue to use to relaunch the Cynical Sarcastic has been exactly that: trying. There are so many things that I feel like need to be examined that attempting to put any for or fashion of a marching order to them has become an exercise in mental chicanery to say the least. So, in the time honored fashion of elementary school children everywhere, I threw a bunch of topics in a hat and picked one and here we go...
Let's front load this little diatribe with a couple of given, indisputable facts. First, this country has an immigration crisis. We have a documented case of over 300,000 illegal aliens flooding across our southern border with Mexico since January of this year. Secondly, our government has a major issue deciding and then acting on any type of policy reform in this area. Third, a large portion of these illegals are children. Not as large a portion as the media would like to portray, but somewhere in the neighborhood of between 30-40% depending on whose estimate you choose to listen to that particular day.
Now I'd like to also front load with the quotation engraved on the Statue of Liberty:
"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-sty to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door." - Emma Lazarus
Okay kids, strap in because now it's time for me to gush forth with my own little opinion. Here's what I know: despite what some in our leadership would have the world believe, we are the greatest county in the world. We have the might and right to lead. With that comes a responsibility to set a moral example. Like it or not, we as a country were saddled with that the second we saw fit to impose our will on any other country through military or economic action. We have an obligation - note that I said obligation not an opportunity - to do the right thing by those who enter our country illegally. When an unaccompanied child crosses our border I think we have double the obligation than we do for an adult. Do we need to provide medical assistance? Of course. Do we need to care for them for a short period to sort out what needs to be done. Without question. But does simply getting here mean that they get to stay?
Therein lies the problem kids, not just for me personally but for our nation as a whole.
I want to stay away from the rhetoric for the purposes of this article. Yes a lot of kids got bused into states that weren't aware they were coming, yes Texas has deployed the National Guard to secure the border, and yes there's a lot of sentiment swirling around that has some ugly words attached to it with regards to our government's action or lack thereof. I don't want to delve into that here. What I'd like to talk about is more on the human side.
Simply put, I'm torn as to what our real obligation is to these people. I actually believe in my heart in the message inscribed in the Statue of Liberty, but then my very next question has to be "at what cost?" It falls very much in line with the amnesty argument as far as I'm concerned. Where do we say here and no farther? Where do we care, either through sentiment or action, more about those in our country illegally than we do our own citizens? How do we justify diverting resources from our citizens to those that want to be?
To that extent I've decided to develop my own rather simple plan for immigration. I applied what passes for common sense in my brain and came up with something that, although a little tough against some of my own sentiments, makes sense to me on a national level. Tell me what you think as I would really like to hear debate on this plan. After all, since no one else is attempting to offer something unilateral, why not try to fix it myself?
1 - Amnesty: Effective October 1, 2014 if you are an illegal alien and have (a) a provable means of income, (b) a verifiable residence, (c) no criminal record with the exception of minor traffic offenses, and (d) verifiable proof that you have paid taxes while residing in this country then congratulations, you must simply take and pass a naturalization class and you are a citizen. The class will cost you $100 and take one night a week for 12 weeks.
2 - If you are under the age of 18 and in this country illegally: if your family is unreachable or no longer exists, you will be placed in foster care and granted citizenship. Your citizenship will only apply to you and no other relatives except a future spouse and any offspring.
3 - Illegal aliens that cross our borders after 10/1/14 and those currently here with a criminal record will be deported. Period. Without a holding stay or court hearings. If you're here and have not followed the proper visa process then you go home. If you are here seeking political asylum, the usual rules will apply with the change that the rules will actually be applied going forward.
Pretty simple and straightforward as far as I can see.
Let me know what you think.
More to come.
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