Oklahoma legislature passes tough illegal immigration bill

Regardless how many times I post on this topic and how many times I make it clear that I don’t oppose immigration, I’m still called a xenophobe on a regular basis. I’m sure today will be no different.

I’m all for immigration. I think it’s as American as apple pie and baseball, but baseball has a steroid problem and immigration has a legal problem. So it’s illegal immigration that I adamantly oppose. This post could go on for pages and pages. I could get into the “respecting our laws” aspect or the national security threat that illegal immigration poses. But, today, I want to focus on the social impact.

Why do people come to America? They want a better life. No one argues that. They want work, education and health care. They want a decent place to live. Fair enough. I think it’s wonderful that no matter how much this country is bashed in the media and in the political arena both domestically and internationally, there are still many people who view America as a better place. So let them come, as long as they obey the rules and adapt to our culture.

I think English should be the official language of the US. I think immigrants should be well-versed in US history. They should know the words to the Star-Spangled Banner (something that even natural born citizens have trouble with). I think you should be a citizen or a documented legal immigrant to be entitled to a job, a place to live, an education, a driver’s license and social security benefits. I do not think that being born on American soil entitles you to citizenship, but being born to a citizen or a documented immigrant does. These are my opinions and some may disagree, but there are many out there who are with me.

I’ve heard the arguments. I know the human rights issues, the civil rights issues, it’s all a bunch of yah-yah to me. The fact is that American culture is vanishing. People don’t know her history and there is no pride in their “new” country. Talk to anyone who immigrated to American 40, 50, 80 years ago and they’ll tell you the same thing. There is no incentive to learn English, and there is a waning incentive to avoid the entitlement programs that are crippling our budget. But, still, it’s such a major human rights issue that the pro-illegal immigration crowd seems to think that we are obligated to give these people the things that our citizens receive, while not expecting them to live up to the duties (namely taxes) that the citizens must meet. It’s a debate that will rage for years and the federal gov’t isn’t likely to do anything about it (until we are attacked via our porous border). So I have a solution.

It’s simple. I propose an opt-in tax to fund entitlement programs for illegal immigrants. We put a check box on our tax returns. This box, if checked, will allow any taxpaying citizen to opt-in their support of illegal immigrants in this country. It will an additional 5, 10, 20% or whatever is deemed necessary, to that person’s tax bill. If someone has a firm belief that Americans should pay these things for illegals, then simply check the box on your tax returns. You have that right. But, you don’t have the right to force me to do the same when my beliefs are different.

There you go. Simple. Effective. An end to the debate.