Let me start by saying that I love lawfulness. I endeavor to obey our laws and accept the consequences if I don't. I do understand why peoples from around the world want to come here. Previous waves of immigrants came when we had little or no immigration laws, so they were here “legally”. Now, we have laws, and whether or not we agree with the laws, they must be enforced. Laws should be enforced or removed from our statutes. We have a poor standard of governmental integrity if we lack the will to implement justice. There can be no true justice when some laws are enforced and others unenforced.
Now, there is no such thing as a “law abiding” illegal alien because it is impossible to come here illegally and abide here legally. Taxes, military duty, driving, education, health care, and the list goes on and on of the areas impacted by the presence of illegals. While the overwhelming majority of illegals desire to live and work in peace, it is very naïve to imagine that crime (drugs, human trafficking, and other violent crimes in particular) are not significantly expanded here because of the activities of various gangs, drug traffickers and others.
Does this mean that “illegals” are second class humans? Of course not! Are they second class citizens? Absolutely! But everyone should be dealt with in accordance with American laws and traditions. We should also enforce the laws when companies or individuals hire illegals. It’s is a national wickedness to employ border patrol and law enforcement and then ask them to a job without giving them the right to defend themselves or to do their duty because of political weakness.
Please do not tell me the worn lie that we need illegals to fill important jobs that citizens won’t do. There is a simple economic rule of supply and demand. Example: if jobs at wage A go unfilled by citizens and legal workers, then the job will have to go to wage B, then C, and so forth, until the job is filled at its proper market wage. These “unfilled” jobs would all be filled by legal workers at higher wages. In fact, flooding any job market with illegal workers just artificially keeps wages down. This impact is also felt in other markets like housing, medical treatment, education, etc.
Please do not misunderstand my belief as any kind of racism. I love all peoples as icons of Christ. I wish for all to come to Christ and His church. I believe that we should endeavor to feed, clothe, and shelter all who need it. America is usually triple any other country in giving to others around the world. We give more to Africa than African nations, more to Asia than Asian nations, more to the Middle East, and on and on. Could we do more? Maybe. Could I do more? Probably.
I believe that it would be wrong for me to endorse lawlessness in the name of Christ. I believe the church (and our government) should work to improve the lives of the people in each country that will work with us. This is very different from crashing our economy and theirs together in a misplaced sentimental gesture of encouraging the violation of our nation’s immigration laws. I am also not convinced that we are doing the countries from which the illegals come any favors. We deprive them of their necessary workers and interfere with their economic development if we encourage a mass exodus of their able-bodied workforce.
I do welcome, with open arms, all who legally endeavor to adopt America as their own! I will show them my love and support. I will be patient with them as they learn our languages and customs. I will not regard their ethnic, cultural, or national background as any kind of baggage of which they should be ashamed. If they arrive in flight of an oppressive regime, I will gladly encourage our state department and judicial system to view them with much leniency. If they are here as a willful violation of our laws, we should send them home.
Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 06:01AM 
