Immigration truth

By Rod Jetton

Over the last several weeks I've been writing about the steps Missouri can take to curb the flood of illegal immigrants. This series has generated a lot of feedback, mostly positive but some negative. I wanted to conclude my look at illegal immigration by answering some of the criticisms that have been aimed at my views on this issue.

First, stopping illegal immigration does not mean we are uncompassionate. When Ronald Reagan spoke of the U.S. as a "shining city on a hill," he rightfully declared our position as a beacon of hope and refuge to people around the world. Millions of people are born into oppressive, impoverished nations where they know neither freedom nor opportunity. We should always provide a shelter for those people who need it.

However, that doesn't mean we should have completely open borders. There is nothing wrong with having an orderly process everyone has to go through to become a legal citizen. We don't have to have anarchy to be compassionate.

Our citizenship process is no more complicated or time consuming than other nations. To become a naturalized U.S. citizen, you have to have been a legal resident here for at most five years, have good moral character, understand simple English, have a basic understanding of U.S. history and pledge to uphold the Constitution. To become a French citizen, most people have to live there for at least five years, show familiarity with the French language and culture, have good moral character and be able to prove they have a stable income. It's pretty much the same criteria to become a British citizen.

And while our unique position in the world does come with a responsibility to be the standard-bearer of freedom, it doesn't mean we should ever abandon our primary duty to protect our communities, families and children. Remember, compassion isn't a suicide pact. That leads us to the next point.

Second, illegal immigration poses a real threat to our safety. Someone who read one of my recent columns on illegal immigration took offense at the idea that illegal immigrants were criminals. Moving past the point that illegal immigrants are, by definition, criminals, let's look at her deeper point. She meant that most illegal immigrants are honest, hard-working people just trying to make a better future for their families. That's probably true. But not all illegal immigrants are so upstanding.

In 1995, the Immigration and Naturalization Service identified 14,262 illegal aliens in state prisons. By 2002, that number had risen to 74,000. By 2004, nearly three out of every 10 inmates in federal prisons were illegal immigrants, costing the nation at least $1.2 billion that year. By 2002, the federal government reimbursed local governments for incarcerating 138,000 illegal aliens.

Congress wanted to get a picture of the criminal history of illegal aliens who had been arrested and placed in the federal, state or local prison systems. The Government Accounting Office did a study of 55,322 illegal aliens who had been arrested. These individuals had been arrested a total of 459,614 times for a total of around 700,000 criminal offenses. The offenses ranged from drug offenses to vehicle theft to robbery and murder.

Admittedly, this is a small portion of the illegal immigrant population which is estimated to be over 10 million today. However, the flood of illegal immigrants makes it nearly impossible to identify the more dangerous elements and potential threats. By reducing illegal immigration overall, it will eliminate the cover that helps the more dangerous individuals to sneak into our country.

Finally, cracking down on illegal immigration does not make us racist. As usual, when all else fails liberals revert to name-calling and labeling to win their debate. So, it's not surprising that anyone who wants a common-sense immigration policy gets labeled "racist." But illegal immigration has nothing to do with racism.

If we get trapped into thinking of an illegal immigrant as being someone from a particular nation or specific ethnic background we're making ourselves even more vulnerable. If we only focus on the southern border, the northern border will become a problem. If we only worry about our land-based borders, our port security will become neglected.

We can't afford to let our illegal immigration policy be driven by race. Illegal immigrants come in all shapes, sizes, colors and creeds. It doesn't matter where you come from, you should have to go through the same legal process to become an American citizen.

Usually, issues like making English our official language get thrown into this mix. Critics say we are attempting to destroy other cultures. That is not the case at all. We're the strongest nation in the world because we have the best of nearly every culture on the planet. However, we can't let our diversity divide us into separate clubs and ethnic groups.

If we don't share a common language or culture then we won't be able to communicate with each other and grow as one community. The melting pot will cease to exist. By encouraging newcomers to learn and understand American culture we are strengthening our diversity, not weakening it.

Illegal immigration is a heated topic, and it should be. It forces us to examine our proper place and role in the world. We should continue to view our role as the protectors of liberty on earth as a sacred duty. However, we can't let our desire to be compassionate blind us to the real dangers posed by those who want to destroy us. If we do, the last best hope of freedom on earth will be gone and the sick, hungry and oppressed of this world will have no one to turn to.

Rod Jetton of Marble Hill, Mo., is the speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives.