Copyright by James Carlson
With the influx of 6 million illegal migrants into the U.S. under the Biden administration, we have to begin working the problem of what to do with all these people. The numbers of illegal immigrants (not illegals) are so large that we cannot carry their weight within our city infrastructures any more. Solutions to these problems are available and need to be applied one step at a time.
First things first, let’s categorize the problem to find particular solutions within each category. Here are my suggestions:
1. Increase border security with more material and manpower (on both sides of the border).
2. Increase the number of legal immigrants allowed from Mexico to the United States
3. Provide for a system of reconciliation for illegal migrants that doesn’t dishonor our nation’s rule of law nor these people’s humanity.
Once we can agree on a general path forward we can then find particular solutions for each category.
Increase Border Security
It’s obvious that the first thing to do is to finish the border wall and add more people to secure the border. This can be accomplished with a national draft of young men and women from the ages of 18 – 23 who can serve for 2 years in the region of their own home (50 – 500 miles radius). They can provide existing agencies with the needed personnel to do the work of protecting our nation and our nation’s borders. The Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, National Guard, and the various military Reserves all could use an influx of personnel ready to help when called upon. They may work 1 weekend a month and/or 1 week every 3 months. They would get the usual benefits of education and housing assistance and the usual exemptions of education and family responsibilities. This is one solution provided to help increase border security.
Further, we need to establish by treaty with Mexico a U.S. border on the Mexican side of the border. Given a 10 year treaty to secure the territory 10 miles inland from the U.S./Mexico border, this will enable more security at the border before people enter into the U.S..
Increase Legal Immigration
The next step in solving our illegal immigration policy is to increase the number of legal immigrants we allow into our nation each year. The number presently is 175,000 but that could be easily doubled or more. Increasing the limits means we undermine the cartels in their use of these people for financial gain and take advantage of the demand for the benefit of our own country. Having the right people, not just any people, will us to grow as a nation of immigrants.
Texas once had an illegal immigration problem when it was a part of the Republic of Mexico. Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Texas, once served Mexico as the Empresario over Texas, managing who was allowed to enter Texas as a migrant legally. He required Certificates of Character for each immigrant that outlined the migrants’ 1) Job history, 2) Family history, 3) Criminal record, and 4) Religious affiliation. These 4 requirements of character limited who could come into Texas and who could not. This method, in an altered form, is exactly what legal immigration is all about. Migrants are vetted over a long period of time (many years) and then allowed to enter our country will add value to our country and not prey upon our nation’s infrastructure.
Adding more legal immigrants who may come and stay in our nation will also bring value to the phrase, “back of the line.” Having a reserved number of legal immigrants from those who came here illegally, is a step in the right direction to help solve the complex problems of our immigration issues.
Provide for a System of Reconciliation
We need to learn a hard lesson in the humanities. While people are in our country illegally, they are still human beings with human rights. And the system of laws we have need to be respected, not rejected. At the same time, we are obligated as a nation to care for those who are here as we regard our common humanity. Respect for the rule of law and compassion for our fellow human beings has to find common ground for us to move forward with solutions to the immigration problems.
Many people who work in our country without proper documentation (undocumented workers) contribute to our tax base. These workers often use illegal social security numbers (SSNs)to get a job and then are unable to get their withheld taxes as they cannot file a legal tax return with an illegal SSN. However, if we had an exception in the tax laws allowing them to reclaim some of that money, they would have to declare themselves as illegal migrants, get a temporary workers’ visa, and go to the “back of the line” for legal immigration. As they pay a percentage penalty on their taxes for working here without proper legal documentation, they may get some money back and get a chance to migrate legally in a few years. This is one possible solution.
Another path people may take, is to remove people out of the city and put them into camps located outside our nation’s municipal infrastructure. If a city is designated as having 100,000 people or more, then we have 60 cities roaming our country (60 cities = 6 million migrants) trying to find resources to facilitate these people’s needs. The infrastructure of every city manages water/waste water, electricity, gas all for the benefit of every citizen in the city. These migratory cities have no infrastructure so they have to utilize what already exists in our nation’s cities and towns to make due. As such, they are overwhelming our nation’s infrastructure without providing any support to it. This parasitic behavior has to stop and removing people into remote camps is one solution to this problem.
Moving people into camps is one step in the right direction. Taking people who have not used the legal immigration process, putting them into safe shelters outside our cities, taking care of their humanitarian needs is what is required to help them and our own people at the same time. Making 60 camps across the nation sounds like a big deal but it is an even bigger deal leaving them inside our cities taking over our jobs and our resources. That’s what legal immigration provides for. Once in these camps they can decide if they want to wait at the “back of the line” for legal immigration or be returned to their point of origin.
Waiting in these temporary relief camps can also provide a work force for disaster relief. A modified Works Progress Administration (WPA) could give points to the credit of migrants who are willing to work to clear out areas hit by hurricanes, flooding, or tornadoes. These people can provide useful resources to the larger community as they take resources from the same. Let’s end the parasitic behavior of these migrants and open the doors to legal immigration through these camps.
Further, the United States is a nation of Laws. Our legal order is based upon the English Common Law that is an advocacy of the individual where the State has to prove the guilt of one accused of breaking the law. Liberty and Justice for All is the hallmark of our nation and the genius of our Republic.
Other nations are based upon the Roman Civil Law that is a legal advocacy of the State and not the Individual. One has to prove their innocence in a Court of Law and is assumed guilty unless proved innocent. This is the system of law provided in Mexico. The Mexican government is not an advocate of the individual and the people know this in their heart. They have to work without the help of the government (often without liberty and/or justice) to provide for their families. They do not understand our legal order and migrating illegally is nothing to them. We need to teach them the value of law in society, their role in America, and the benefit of observing the law as it protects them. This among other means are ways in which we can provide a system of reconciliation that doesn’t dishonor our nation’s rule of law nor these people’s humanity.
America’s Dirty Little Secret
Immigrants have always found their way into our nation’s infrastructure, working the menial chores until they could advance economically. Immigration in our country began during the colonial era where indentured servants could immigrate into our country and work off the cost of their passage to America over time. Later, slavery took over from indentured servanthood where slaves were forced to do the menial tasks. After the Civil War, slavery continued in the form of Jim Crow Racism and share croppers. Others like the Chinese in California working the railroads and laundry, and Mexicans working American crops during WWII (Strong Arm Act) worked in the political and economic shadows our nation. The dirty little secret of our nation’s economy is that capitalism depends upon manorialism to prosper. We’ve always had a manorial economic underground in our nation and it is likely we always will have one.
The history of manorialism is one of an economic system connected to an associated political system of feudalism. We see this in the days our nation changed from 13 colonies to one nation under the Articles of Confederation. This is similar to so many fiefs within a kingdom; states were loosely affiliated to take care of their own needs and then joined in a weak confederation in defense of the nation’s needs. The Confederation was the feudal political system connected to the manorial economic system already established in America from England. When the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1787, it replaced the Articles of Confederation and established a Democrat Republic where manorialism continued without the feudal political component.
The American South is more accustomed to illegal workers than the North where a Confederacy was established to govern an inherent manorial system of slavery. Southerners are innately aware of how to treat people who are not here legally. The old unspoken rule was that if you keep quiet about our nation’s politics and economy, you can work in the shadows of the same and be left alone. But with millions of illegal migrants flooding our nation today, how is that possible? While the 13th Amendment may mean manorialism is illegal, it is still a practice today.
Law and Love
Jesus taught us to Love one another and to follow the Law. In John 8:1-11, Jesus didn’t condemn the woman caught in adultery but said, “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” Love was coupled with the moral Law. In Luke 10:30-37, Jesus taught about the Good Samaritan who helped the person robbed and beaten and left on the side of the road to die. He praised him for following the law of love whereas the religious priest and Levite did not; they only followed the letter of the Mosaic Law. In Luke 11:42, Jesus scolded those who gave 10% of their herb garden to the temple that they left behind the weightier matters of the Law: judgment, mercy, and faith. These things he said they ought to have done and not left the others undone.
Jesus wanted us to follow the principles of the rule of Law and the Law of Love at the same time. It isn’t enough to uphold the rule of law, we need to account for the humanity of these people and have compassion upon them. And having compassion on illegal migrants isn’t enough as we have to enforce the rule of law and secure our nation’s borders for the security of our own people. Both are required at the same time. And every solution for illegal immigration should have this in it.
Summary
The solutions to these problems won’t be easy but as we apply a general outline of what can be done to help solve the problems of illegal immigration, we may find we can agree to the general solutions first. Afterwards, the particular solutions can be vetted and discussed to find consensus. Insuring we respect both the Rule of Law and the Love for our fellow human beings in hand at the same time, we may find God blessing our nation like never before. We are a nation of immigrants and it is a central part of what makes us strong. Let’s remember to pray both for our law enforcement officers and these migrants who are all so vulnerable to predators. God, please help us in our time of need.