Republicans and Immigration Reform

Republicans Must Support Expedited Citizenship for Latin American Immigrants

Monday, May 10, 2010

The Republican position on immigration reform is yet unclear. Some (very loud) elements of the base staunchly support deportation of Latin American immigrants in the country without permission. Others in the party support an expedited naturalization process for those already inside the country.

The latter of these two views - if adopted by the party - could help ensure the GOP would retake and retain the House and Senate for the foreseeable future, while the former stance could be the one thing that could possibly derail the widely anticipated GOP landslide victory in the upcoming mid-term elections in November.

GOP on Immigration Reform The GOP should be leading the charge for expediting the naturalization process, granting temporary work visas immediately to those already here with a clearly defined (and streamlined) path to citizenship offered to all those already residing in the United States.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele at times has appeared to be more strategically adept than his predecessors, at least those in the post-Ken Mehlman and Ed Gillespie era. Mehlman and Gillespie were the last two people to head up the RNC and actually deliver results in a major election. Well, those that had followed have delivered results, just not good results.

As for Steele, hasn't been there long enough to declare his tenure as leader of the party a failure or a success. The GOP has fared well in a number of individual elections held in 2009 and 2010, punctuated by Scott Brown's surprise victory in the Massachusetts Senate race to replace the late Ted Kennedy. Steele hasn't really come out strongly in favor or against any quantitative position regarding the issue of immigration reform, although he recently wrote a piece appearing at GOP.com explaining why Latin American voters should vote Republican. Steele's column outlined many of the same general points made in this article, only his column managed to completely avoid the topic of immigration reform while touting the GOP's appeal and history with Latin American voters.

Latin American Immigants Embrace Real American Values

What Republicans across the country including those in Washington must understand and soon is that immigrants from South of the U.S. border are exactly the kind of people we need here in this country right now. First and foremost, they want to be here. That says a lot about their perception of America and what this country stands for. To them, America is still the land of opportunity.

The disturbingly prevalent assumption that these immigrants will be ecstatic over the taxpayer-funded handouts the Democrats will inevitably attempt to bribe them with is both inaccurate and insulting. These people are here for a reason, and the reason is because they want to live somewhere that affords them a better opportunity to secure steady work and provide a better living for their families. They are well aware of what socialism is, and they will recognize it when they see it (On a side note, they might see it sooner if the GOP would bring it to their attention by pointing out some of the Democrats' policies in TV and radio ads appearing in Spanish).

The point I'm making here is that the prevalent assumption among many on the right who oppose immigration reform that the opposite of this is true (that they'll immediately become obedient little Democrat sheep upon receiving that first donkey-issued handout) is both inaccurate and insulting.

Socialism and Abject Poverty in Latin America

Most undocumented immigrants from Latin America know first-hand what socialism can do to an economy. They would rather risk arrest and deportation than remain legal citizens of their home countries, the vast majority of which are controlled by socialist-leaning governments of varying degrees of totalitarianism. In at least two cases, the governments adhere to a full-fledged communist-totalitarian, anti-economic and anti-social ideological construct (Cuba and Venezuela to be specific).

Virtually all of Latin America has been decimated by looter governments for extended periods at one point or another throughout the past two centuries to present. The hindering effects on the prospect for economic prosperity of the entire region are still taking their toll, even in countries like Columbia and Costa Rica where free market policies have been embraced in recent years (although those countries are still better off than the abject poverty found in communist Venezuela and Cuba).

The point is, if the Republicans can claim at least a share of the credit for a bill that expedites the naturalization process without deportations of anyone not guilty or formally accused of a crime, the Latin American-immigrant vote is the GOP's to lose.

Christian Faith, Values

A few other points worthy of mention include the fact that Latin Americans, in general, are more religious in terms of the percentage of population that consider themselves religious as well as in the amount that are devout in their faith. Christianity is by far the dominant religion in Latin America. This should bode very well for Republicans, who are in a good position to win a substantial percentage of the vote from the Latino demographic on the issue of abortion alone.

Not that abortion is the only issue Latino voters should identify with the GOP on, the left's proclivity to adhere to a double-standard when it comes to political correctness and attacks on people's religions likely won't win them any support among Latin Americans. Specifically, the way the left jumps through hoops to avoid saying anything even remotely critical of Islam, indigenous tribal religions, Wicca, paganism and other occult pseudo-religions, but seemingly take shots at Christianity and Judaism at every possible opportunity doesn't seem like the sort of behavior devoutly religious Latin American Christians will view favorably.

Latin American Culture Values Hard Work, Success

Regarding family and Latin American culture: A major motivator of Latin American men is the prospect of leaving their children with more wealth than was in the family when their children were born. This is cultural, and something that Latino men take a great deal of pride in. It is the fact that they earned the money they hope to leave to their children when they depart from this world that invokes the sense of pride and accomplishment. The keyword there is earned. This is a culture that values hard work and achievement. The culture looks favorably upon the father who provides well for his family, affording them an education, a decent standard of living and the opportunity to become successful on their own later in life.

Intelligent People Understand Socialism and Where it Leads

To even doubt for one moment that people who came here illegally because the formal immigration process takes an excessively long time and they couldn't bare to live and see their families live in abject poverty any longer would fail to see the devil hiding in the details of Democrat social programs is to sell these people WAY short. They are not stupid people, and they're certainly not incompetent. Their countries-of-origin in most cases have been taken over by the world-government, socialist cabal, and they were at least smart enough to recognize it and get the hell out of dodge rather than remain there is a state of anger and furor directed against the 3-4% of the population that is actually producing anything and paying the astronomical taxes needed to feed the communist beast. The misdirected hostility is the result of the government and government-controlled media's propaganda bombardments assailing the remaining few good guys and blaming them for all the nefarious acts committed by the government itself.

The people who fled to the United States were smart enough to figure out what was really going on despite systematic and successful efforts to destroy the respective education systems of these countries (much as is currently being done in the U.S.), with the ultimate goal of a dramatic dumbing-down of the population so as to render the masses easier to control.

Latin American immigrants won't need to have explained to them the fact that Keynesian economics is a scam to divert money away from the poor and middle-class and to the ultra-rich in the name of fairness. They already know.

Naturalized Latin American Immigrants WILL Despise the "Death Tax"

Another issue that the GOP could use to further solidify its support from Latino immigrants is the Estate Tax, or "death tax". By the time Latin American immigrants learn that upon gaining citizenship, all their hard-earned money will be confiscated from their families after their death to be distributed to other people who hadn't earned it and whose ancestors hadn't earned it, they'll be more than ready to register to vote and register as Republicans at that.

Immigrant Vote Could be Key to GOP Regaining Power for the Long-Term

The expedited naturalization of Latin American immigrants currently residing in the U.S. could be the the difference-maker in returning the GOP to power for the foreseeable future. Culturally and ideologically the Republicans identify better with the demographic on nearly every issue. Upon becoming citizens and receiving voting privileges this entire demographic should be poised to become a brand-new swath of GOP voters.

Poor Stratic Planning by 'Wizards of Smart' in the Republican Party

The only issue about which Latin Americans and many if not most Republicans disagree on is the immigration issue. If the GOP would just pull its heads out of its arse for five minutes, it might notice that they're opposing the extension of voting rights to the very people who quite possibly could effectively marginalize the Democrats for years and potentially even decades to come.

It's time the party did what is in the best interest of the advancement of the Republican political agenda, and that starts with the party adopting a view on immigration reform similar to that initially espoused by President George W. Bush before party leadership convinced him to backtrack on it. That position, for what it's worth, is effectively the same as the one I espoused at the beginning of this post. In short, the party needs to adopt a pro-immigration view, including towards those immigrants currently in the United States without permission from the government.

It's time for Republicans to start thinking about the future as well as the past. Immigrants fleeing poverty and political oppression are what made this country great. Why is the party of patriotism, free-market capitalism, personal and financial liberty not welcoming with open arms an infusion into the American population of a group of people whose belief in America's greatness and the American dream far exceeds that of most Americans, and virtually all Democrats?

Social Security and Taxes

Aside from the political considerations, there are some common-sense reasons why providing a fast-track to citizenship for those people already residing within U.S. borders. The most obvious is that fact that if they were legally documented workers with temporary visas or even better citizens, they would be paying taxes just like everyone else in America that works. If they're paying taxes, the argument that they're 'draining the system' by way of hospital stays, emergency room visits, public education, etc. would no longer be valid. Latin American immigrants with legal status would undoubtedly put more into the system than they would take out.

This brings me to another different but every bit as important point. Anyone that has read this entire column to this point probably is aware that the Social Security program is in a state of major crisis, with the prospect of the program becoming insolvent looking more and more realistic, not to mention just over the horizon. The addition of 10+ million people suddenly contributing to Social Security, the vast majority of whom would not draw from the fund for another 30-40 years would not necessarily solve the problem or end the crisis. It would however buy a good bit of time -- approximately two decades give or take a few years -- before the crisis would began to really set in, with the hope being that someone would devise an idea that actually solved the problem during that time before the system finally runs out of money.

Regardless of the political impact of the estimated 10 million-plus undocumented immigrants currently in the United States suddenly being granted legal status including the right to vote, the profound impact their tax dollars would have on America's soaring debt and the prolonging/postponing of Social Security going bankrupt that would follow directly from a mass influx of legal, documented workers replacing shadowy undocumented workers seems to me to be a good reason for people on both sides of the political aisle to give serious consideration to the proposal/suggestion called for in this column as it pertains to the issue of immigration reform.

To Conclude

At this point, the Democrats are winning the debate. The Arizona law that no one has read but nonetheless faces vehement opposition from people from across the country that have never read it and don't know what's in the legislation hasn't helped the GOP's image among immigrants from South of the border. Various leaders within the GOP have stressed that very few of the law's critics know anything about it, but they have failed to adequetely explain the law, requiring the person overhearing the debate to take their word for it that the bill is not nearly as "anti-immigrant" as it has been made out to be. This has got to change.

If the bill is what Republicans are saying it is and not what Democrats are claiming it represents, the GOP must go through and recite enough of the specifics to convince an objective observer of intellectual dishonesty on the part of the left. If the bill is an affront to immigrants, then party leadership should denounce it in no uncertain terms and make clear that it does not represent the views of the national party.

All-in-all, the way I see this whole thing breaking down, the immigrants are going to become citizens one way or another. Republicans can either accept this now and start wooing this demographic that already has a proclivity towards identifying with the GOP, or they can play into the hands of Democrat strategists who seek fodder needed to paint the GOP as xenophobic and anti-immigrant so as to divert attention away from political philosophy and the issues.

What About the Border?

It is my personal opinion that any immigration reform bill brought into committee should contain language spelling out a comprehensive plan to restrict unlawful travel back and forth across the border. Anyone discovered to be in the country illegally beyond the deadline set for immigrants to register and apply for the temporary work visas that would constitute the first step in the citizenship process would face possible jail time and mandatory deportation.

The flip-side of that would be that upon the passage of a bill such as the one I'm envisioning, the process through which non-citizens can apply for work visas and eventual citizenship would be streamlined and the amount of time and effort required to complete the application process reduced significantly.

In essence, I support granting a reprieve for those already here. At the same time, the goal would be to improve the system such that those seeking to become Americans will have far better options to go about completing that process than to sneak in and thus risk being caught. A possible deterrent that would almost certainly be effective (assuming the immigration system is overhauled and significantly improved) would be to not only deport anyone found to be in the country illegally after the deadline for registering as an undocumented immigrant, but also punish those caught here illegally by refusing to consider work-visa and citizenship applications from the deported individual for a predefined time period.

For example, if an immigrant is in the U.S. illegally but for whatever reason does not fill out and return the citizen-request form prior to the deadline set, that person would be deported and moved to the back of the waiting list, ensuring that it will be a couple of years at minimum before that individual could reapply.

This should prevent future unauthorized border-crossings while addressing the situation involving those immigrants already in the U.S., whi;e the new system would provide a clearly defined incentive for immigrants and prospective immigrants to cooperate with the INS rather than risk being caught and placed behind millions of others on the list seeking legal status.

Tags: Conservative, GOP, Government, Immigration, Issues

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