We are all immigrants on some level, each with varying claims on the right to be considered Americans. Fairly attaining the status of citizen requires clearing hurdles that were borne by most all the inhabitants now here.

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E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many, One

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My Great-grandmother, Mamie, was an undocumented immigrant. Her family, the Austins, were British Crown Loyalists during the First American Revolution and fled North to Canada once the Original Patriots prevailed.

Mamie and her family ‘came back’ to the U.S. unceremoniously through North Dakota a decade after the Immigration Act of 1891 made it illegal for them to do so without due process, and over a century since their forebears quit the country. She, with her family, toiled as wheat farmers before they traveled by covered wagon from the Midwest to settle in the Pacific Northwest. Her marriage to Merle Jewett in Seattle merged her branch of the family with an ancestral line that traced back to 1638 in colonial Massachusetts, some of the original immigrants who would also become true American patriots. Their offspring produced solid Americans – soldiers, policemen, architects, builders and the occasional artist. Classic assimilation to their new domicile. (Uncle Bob was a little bit of a drinker but it didn’t stop him from being a productive, abiding American.) Perfectly imperfect people in the mold of the early settlers who earned their right to be Americans through hard work and contribution to the growth and fabric of this country, the occasional misdemeanor notwithstanding.

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If you look back far enough, we all have undocumented members in our family trees. They are separated by their actions and character since their arrival on this shore.

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The metaphorical ‘melting pot’ that is American society promises to blend disparate elements and national origins into a more homogenous dish with a common harmonious culture. The variety of distinct ingredients are still recognizable but steeped in a blended sauce that imparts enhanced flavor and balance to the mix. Greater than the sum of its parts but more stew than puree.

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The wisdom of the melting pot is that it provides a common connection to the multitudes of often adverse cohorts that, over time, develop an affinity that bonds and strengthens the group. Irish, French, Mexicans, Africans, et al. when they become U.S. citizens, they become Americans. Not Mexican-American, not African-American. American.   One can still enjoy a pint of green beer on Saint Patrick’s Day or a bowl of Menudo for Fiestas Patrias, but on the Fourth of July, hot dogs, hamburgers, and fireworks are on the menu. (A little sauerkraut on my hot dog please.)

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Contrast that view with one of a ‘salad bowl’ of separate cultural identities that coexist uneasily with competing nationalities and frozen prejudices, without a shared ground to still the waves of disagreement and suspicion.

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Celebrating diversity and cultural pluralism without the bridges of common values and goals, leads to a calcification of the worst human attributes and is corrosive to what is the magic of America.

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Maybe a tossed, chop-salad is a better metaphor for this ideal. Your choice of dressing.

 

The issue of immigration in the United States might best be understood through the lens of Property Rights - one of the seven principle Natural Rights. The Founders treated Property Rights as a cornerstone of the emerging free society, brought forth together with Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, et al.

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The claim and use of unowned resources - ‘First Possession’, was the tenet on which the first settlers staked their ownership of individual parcels of land, and by extension, their government’s dominion over common tracts, though the native Americans might disagree with that premise. The indigenous peoples’ view may well fall under another concept in the theory of Property Rights, “Adverse Possession”- the transfer of rights to those who openly and continuously occupy property for a period of time. Like many conditions in the founding and evolution of these United States (including another early property contention known as slavery), fairness and universal rights are a constantly evolving aspiration, if not yet a fully realized achievement. The promise is of a “more perfect Union”.

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Among the many beneficial and necessary elements of private property is how it fosters personal security and independence, providing qualified individuals with a stake in society. The protection against undue government control underlies that right. For a century and a half before the formation of the United States, colonists enjoyed ownership of land, and the concept of property rights in America has evolved further since that time, accommodating to the growth and changing identity of the population. Similarly, immigration policy and the control thereof has also evolved with time and the emerging status of our country as a sovereign nation. Control of our borders and the proper screening and management of those desiring to enter, visit, work or inhabit, is necessary to the protection and quality of life for those properly here.

 

Freedom of movement theory posits that all people are free to travel and move subject to the superior or antecedent private property rights of others. It can be said that on the macro-level, the citizens and qualified stakeholders of the United States retain a superior property right over those newcomers who wish to enjoy the same benefits that accrue to the ‘first-possessors’ and those who immigrated legally to the country after them.

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The Federal Immigration Act of 1891 formalized and better defined the process and procedure for regulating and monitoring immigration to the country by foreigners. Among the reasons for disqualification of migrant arrivals included Felons, Idiots & Insane persons, those likely to become Public Burdens and those with Infectious Disease. Later legislation milestones such as the Immigration & Nationality Act of 1952, that removed many racial barriers to immigration, and the Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986, which legalized most illegal immigrants who came to the country before 1984, show us that the practice of migration to the U.S. is a work-in-progress.   The established and enduring principle, however, is that as a sovereign people, we have the right to control entry and define the terms and conditions for those who wish to come here. More to the point, the U.S. federal government has a primary responsibility to provide Safety to its citizens and their homeland, including a robust National Defense from invasion by alien persons. Dereliction of this duty invites severe punishment to those sworn to protect and defend the U.S.A.

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Some argue, spuriously, that more recent waves of immigrants are right to displace the current inhabitants just as European settlers had displaced the indigenous peoples. There may be a case for some level of reparations for both the native Americans and the descendants of slaves, but the list of people wronged during the establishment and growth of the country is a long one and none of the worst offenders are alive today to prosecute or levy. Generous sharing of the common opportunities, rights and freedoms among all citizens is the best remedy for past injustice. That remedy should be available to those who participated in the crucible that was the birth and maturation of the United States, not automatically extended in whole to those who are foreign nationals without them passing through their own crucible on the path to becoming American citizens. Belonging can only be achieved through assimilation.

     

While there are still some who promote and exploit the clash between the various ethnic groups for fun and profit, the large majority of Americans who are here legally are busy assimilating into the mainstream and feasting well from the melting pot.   Just as the early White ethnic groups jockeyed for position and prominence among themselves, while pursuing the American promise, the non-White ethnic groups largely followed suit and have come to reject the false handicaps projected by the race-baiters. They are too busy achieving and embracing the shared national culture to worry about perceived grievances. Though political reasoning, and the bent government statistics they produce, often ignore this reality. Immigration policy must ensure that the national fabric is reinforced and allowed to flourish.

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The forward conflict may not be White vs. non-White, but rather, between Citizen and non-citizen.

  

The simple test for immigrants aspiring to become authorized residents or U. S. citizens should be –

‘Abide, Contribute, Assimilate’:

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• Abide – Authorized residents and discretionary candidates for legal immigration into the U.S. need first to adhere to the rightful laws and regulations of the country and the various jurisdictions that they may traverse or occupy. That requirement should start with lawful entry into the country. Entering illegally or under false pretense violates the first and primary obligation to abide. Illegal aliens should be immediately denied any resident status or benefits and be removed until such time as they are able to re-enter the country legally. If granted legal and proper temporary status or asylum, continuous adherence to just laws must be strictly required. Serious violation of the law should result in detention and deportation in proportion to the crime. On becoming U.S. citizens, newcomers are subject to the same rights and responsibilities as other Americans. Pre-screening of foreign national candidates should include those same disqualifiers as provided in the pivotal legislation of The Immigration Act of 1891 – No Felons, No Insane persons, No Public Charges, No Infectious Disease carriers (Idiots and Polygamists might be granted special dispensation on the grounds that so many current citizens already hold those character flaws, many becoming media dissemblers, politicians, and bureaucrats).  

• Contribute – Public assistance is a Compact Right due to deserving citizens by their respective home State. Newcomers can only be properly entitled to State assistance upon becoming citizens. Self-sufficiency is a bedrock quality of Americans and those wishing to join that body need to be self-supporting prior to arrival to the U.S. and remain financially independent during their provisional period before becoming citizens, or risk disqualification.  Recognizing and repaying the sacrifice and contribution of those who came before them, immigrants should be required to contribute to the common benefit and the fabric of the society in a positive and constructive way – practice Capitalism, volunteer in the community, serve in the military, create art. American generosity is unequalled anywhere in the world and is one of the unique qualities of its people. Aspiring immigrants should not only seek to repay the debt owed to those who came before them, and whose shoulders they stand upon, but should recognize that adopting the mantle of generosity is a key quality to becoming a true American. Not just a price to pay as much as a quality to adopt.   

• Assimilate – The paramount requirement to becoming, truly becoming, an American is to assimilate into the body and character of the nation. The first step on that path is becoming proficient in English. (British and Australian candidates may need to take remedial courses to be fully understood.) There should be no requirement of government to accommodate non-English speakers on the official level. All languages are welcome in the general social context, but the onus is on the visitor to both understand and communicate in the official tongue. This is a primary requirement to being law-abiding as well as interacting in the general discourse. In the American ideal, all people are welcome no matter their origin. It is assumed that they are on the path to becoming Americans and adopting the common national identity. If provisional newcomers wish to reject the culture and practice of American society in favor of those of their native land and customs, they should be disinvited to the country and returned to where they are better accommodated.

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