Immigration, Economy and National Security
By Siddique Malik
www.spreadfreedom.com

As late as just over a decade ago, America held a yearly immigration lottery open to foreigners with each lottery winner getting a Green Card. Originally, the requirements to participate in this lottery were so lenient that some of the winners couldn’t even read or write. Later, the requirements were toughened a bit but were still a far cry from what a country should seek in potential immigrants. This lottery mechanism, an ‘idiotic’ complacence in a complex world, is now a thing of the past. However, America continues to struggle with its immigration policy.
Time has come for America to clearly define what it expects from immigration. Is it supposed to be a lubricant for economy or a vehicle of family unions, or both? Both these objectives cannot be easily met unless visa quotas are expanded and visa procedures streamlined. Moreover, in the post-9/11 world, all immigration mechanics must function within the straitjacket of national security. Also, for the sake of fairness and compassion (America excels at these qualities), mitigating circumstances must be taken into consideration while contemplating what the future will hold for ‘illegal’ immigrants.
It has become fashionable to sympathize with undocumented workers but in the same breath complain that they have ‘broken our laws’. Hypocrisy has the last laugh, as dinners are served in restaurants, delicious fruits and vegetables purchased, lawns mowed and houses built across America. How many of us pause to think that some (if not all) of these activities would have been curtailed if not impossible, had it not been for these workers? Why allow negativity to dampen our lifestyle?
It is not rocket science; it boils down to the simple law of supply and demand. Get the ‘proponents’ of law to pick fruits in summer heat, and the problem of ‘violation of law’ will diminish. Why help ‘law-breakers’ break the law by retiring into the comfort of air-conditioned living rooms?
If you claim to be concerned about the law, then, sweat a little, but not in the ‘guardian angel’ style stomping of the Mexican-American border, because this is tantamount to treating symptoms. Pick a few berries and thus help eliminate the disease of the demand for ‘illegal’ immigrants.
In this shrinking world and the age of globalization, it is madness to criminalize the activities of those who are willing to take back-breaking jobs at minimal wages and be extremely thankful about it. We are ready to take political refugees from anywhere in the world and pay them to settle in America (I say this proudly and approvingly) but is penury also not a form of persecution?
Who would get locked up in a trailer for hours or walk for unending miles in the desert heat (sometimes with infants), had it not been because of utter desperation? The issue is no less related with humanity than political persecution; it is not a law and order problem. Therefore, building fences and deploying national guards would be an exercise in futility.
By its nature, immigration should be a civil matter, not a criminal one, as it directly controls the activities of people basically interested in becoming cogs of our giant economic wheel. They take jobs that no one wants but help create more jobs by helping this wheel turn. Moreover, the matter deals with an individual’s ‘inalienable right to pursue happiness’. We need these people as they bring their dreams (yes, they have dreams, too) and energy into our economic system. The pursuit of these dreams has made America what it is today. How can we turn our back on history?
It is often said that today’s ‘illegal’ immigrants cannot be compared with America’s early immigrants because they came here legally. In those days, people in Europe just boarded the ships headed towards the land of liberty. The concept of passports and visas is a relatively new concept. However, what has not changed is potential immigrants' unwavering will to pursue the American dream.
I am not glorifying ‘illegal’ immigrants or downplaying legal immigrants but suggesting humanization of our immigration laws. We should install a temporary worker visa program as suggested by President Bush; at least for citizens of Mexico (neighbors deserve special treatment). At the same time, we must also start the process of legalizing undocumented aliens. This will necessitate raising numerical caps on visas and work permits, especially for foreign spouses and parents of American residents. Otherwise, it will engender resentment in and outside America. Also, the staff that processes immigration applications should be increased so as to quash the backlogs.
Now, a word or two about legal immigrants:
Legal immigrants have only two avenues to America, skill based and family based. An educated person with unique skills will always pick a legal method to obtain a Green Card as would someone who is lucky enough to be sponsored by a family member in America. Their state of mind cannot really be compared with the desperation of the desert-trekkers, who do not fall in any of these two categories. Therefore, when I hear one take it out on those who work from dawn to dusk (albeit, with expired or no documents) because one’s relative is waiting for a call from the US consulate abroad, I call one callous.
As millions of American visas are issued yearly, one wonders about some visa recipients’ commitment to American values. More than worrying about fortifying the Mexican border, we need to establish a program to ensure that all those who enter our great country are ready to jump into the melting pot, emotionally, psychologically and intellectually, not just in terms of amassing wealth.
Immigrants to America should become ambassadors of freedom and human dignity when they visit countries of their birth. This is their duty to their original countries and a way to pay back America for its hospitality because when freedom spreads, America benefits. We must ensure that we admit only those who possess these epochal strengths.
Issuing of skill based and family based visas without any determination of the visa recipients’ psyche will eventually ghettoize America, causing security problems in the long term. The London train bombers were all born and raised in the UK, but by parents who failed to assimilate the Western values, especially respect for diversity and a civilized approach to religion. It is not just a country’s majority that must bear these traits; the minorities must do it, too.
Last but not the least, America must turn its naturalization test and oath into a serious look into the applicant’s heart and mind. It goes without saying that the vast majority of all those who come to America are decent, honest, hardworking and fair-minded people, but America cannot afford to be complacent in this arena.
Some of those who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001 were ‘illegal’ immigrants who performed meager but essential jobs in the elegant edifice. They died in an inferno caused by those who came to America on legal visas. If a tragedy like this occurred again, there would be no consolation in the fact that it was caused by someone who entered America legally.

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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