I did nothing to deserve this blessing. I have tried to be a good citizen and have spent a good deal of my life working alongside folks who want to keep America great. But I did nothing to earn my birth place.
Having stated that, I am equally aware that there are persons all over the world who would give just about anything to have been born here, and it is not their fault that they were not. I am in favor of allowing persons to immigrate to the United States.
There is one little stipulation. I want them to come to this country in a systematic and legal manner. If they do not do that, they are by definition illegal and are criminals.
At the moment, we have an unknown number of millions of illegal immigrants in this country. If we had some magic way to round all of them up, provide transportation and as humanely as possible send them back to their respective countries, it would be futile. We have no practical system for keeping them out.
If we are not determined, we are wasting our time even discussing this issue. Our politicians will throw us a bone or two, knowing the issue will soon disappear.
Assuming we are serious, we must take action to seal our borders. There are smart people who can figure out the correct type of wall to build. They can tell us what type of electronic surveillance to install and how to monitor it. The bottom line is that our border can and should be sealed.
While we are doing this, we should initiate a five-year program. We announce that every illegal alien in this country has six months to register. Each family would be given paperwork to fill out — things like where they work, what they have been doing, etc. They would also have to include notarized letters from employers, community leaders and other reputable citizens who have known them for a predetermined length of time.
All persons who register and meet certain criteria would be given documents stating they have the privilege to remain in this country until their paperwork is processed.
If it is determined that they have served as productive members of society and it is likely they will continue to do so, they will begin their citizenship process.
During this time, they would have to learn the English language, pay taxes, not become involved in criminal activity and in general become productive guests, until they are granted citizenship.
There will those who will ask, “Why can’t we just let them stay and not worry about our borders?” The answer is easy. Not everyone who wants to come to America loves us. There are a tens of thousands of bad guys who would love to come to America and do all they could to destroy us.
Please do not take my word for it. Listen to them, and to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are telling the truth when they say they want to strike America as suicide murderers.
Let’s return to the subject of birth. What about those who were not as blessed as we were to be born in America? That does not seem fair? It is no more fair than the fact that I was not born rich, or handsome or extremely coordinated. I’ve had to do the best I could with what I was born into, and so should they. It does sound harsh, but it is reality. There are laws governing immigration
It is time to get compassionately tough, encourage our mostly spinal-challenged legislators to take action, and to do what Americans do best, solve problems. This particular problem is serious business.
J.D. Zumwalt Jr., a retired Special Forces soldier, lives in Vass.
