By: Daniel Nardini
As a close friend of mine once said to me, “the more you try to restrict immigration the more you encourage illegal immigration.” Over the past decade we have seen that happen, although even the number of those trying to get into this country illegally has also declined with the lack of jobs. I have heard about so many anti-immigrant advocating restrictions on immigration for any reason that it is ridiculous. Almost all of these groups are made-up of racists, neo-nazis, or far extremist right-wing nutcases.
I say almost. One group that does not seem to fit the mold is the Alliance for a Sustainable USA. Based in Orinda, California, this group believes there are already too many immigrants in this country—both legal and illegal—and they want strict immigration quotas and strict enforcement of all the immigration laws. They want what they call “responsible immigration” whereby only the spouses and children of U.S. citizens are allowed to stay and those immigrants with special advanced skills. This group believes that everyone should learn to speak English so that they can become part of the United States.
The interesting thing about this group is that most of them are themselves immigrants, and their executive director is a woman (an immigrant too) named Yeh Ling-ling. While I can respect this group for being sincere about their ideas, and trying to do something about the broken U.S. immigration system, I cannot agree with them. As I said before, the undocumented in the United States makes up may three to five percent of the overall population. Not exactly a horde. I of course have never advocated anyone to break the law nor immigration law. At the same time I cannot agree with a strict immigration policy.
This was tried from 1924 to 1965, and it did not work. There was A LOT of illegal immigration during that period, and sadly one of the two tragic consequences of that strict immigration policy was that it led to the United States denying refuge to those Ukrainians trying to escape the Holodomor (1932-1933) and those Jews trying to escape the Nazi genocide (1942-1945). The Alliance for a Sustainable USA advocates that the United States should adopt an immigration policy more like that of China since China went from being an “impoverished” country to a “great industrial giant.” This type of immigration system will not work for America. Besides, China’s immigration system is beastly. It denies sanctuary to legitimate refugees like the North Koreans fleeing North Korea, and it regularly shoots Tibetans trying to flee Chinese-occupied Tibet.
I believe that America’s immigration system, while not letting everyone in by any stretch of the imagination, should have minimal requirements. Obviously the spouses and children of U.S. citizens should be allowed in and given priority. Also people with specialized skills. In addition, people who already have family here should be allowed in and those who are willing to contribute their labor should be allowed in and their interest on staying in this country should be on a case-by-case basis. We certainly should give refuge where we can to those trying to escape persecution where we can. Those undocumented who have been here for at least ten years should be considered for permanent residency since chances are now they have families born and raised in the United States. I agree with the Alliance for a Sustainable USA that this country’s immigration system needs desperate change. I just simply cannot agree on what that change is.
About the Alliance for a Sustainable USA
By: Daniel Nardini
As a close friend of mine once said to me, “the more you try to restrict immigration the more you encourage illegal immigration.” Over the past decade we have seen that happen, although even the number of those trying to get into this country illegally has also declined with the lack of jobs. I have heard about so many anti-immigrant advocating restrictions on immigration for any reason that it is ridiculous. Almost all of these groups are made-up of racists, neo-nazis, or far extremist right-wing nutcases.
I say almost. One group that does not seem to fit the mold is the Alliance for a Sustainable USA. Based in Orinda, California, this group believes there are already too many immigrants in this country—both legal and illegal—and they want strict immigration quotas and strict enforcement of all the immigration laws. They want what they call “responsible immigration” whereby only the spouses and children of U.S. citizens are allowed to stay and those immigrants with special advanced skills. This group believes that everyone should learn to speak English so that they can become part of the United States.
The interesting thing about this group is that most of them are themselves immigrants, and their executive director is a woman (an immigrant too) named Yeh Ling-ling. While I can respect this group for being sincere about their ideas, and trying to do something about the broken U.S. immigration system, I cannot agree with them. As I said before, the undocumented in the United States makes up may three to five percent of the overall population. Not exactly a horde. I of course have never advocated anyone to break the law nor immigration law. At the same time I cannot agree with a strict immigration policy.
This was tried from 1924 to 1965, and it did not work. There was A LOT of illegal immigration during that period, and sadly one of the two tragic consequences of that strict immigration policy was that it led to the United States denying refuge to those Ukrainians trying to escape the Holodomor (1932-1933) and those Jews trying to escape the Nazi genocide (1942-1945). The Alliance for a Sustainable USA advocates that the United States should adopt an immigration policy more like that of China since China went from being an “impoverished” country to a “great industrial giant.” This type of immigration system will not work for America. Besides, China’s immigration system is beastly. It denies sanctuary to legitimate refugees like the North Koreans fleeing North Korea, and it regularly shoots Tibetans trying to flee Chinese-occupied Tibet.
I believe that America’s immigration system, while not letting everyone in by any stretch of the imagination, should have minimal requirements. Obviously the spouses and children of U.S. citizens should be allowed in and given priority. Also people with specialized skills. In addition, people who already have family here should be allowed in and those who are willing to contribute their labor should be allowed in and their interest on staying in this country should be on a case-by-case basis. We certainly should give refuge where we can to those trying to escape persecution where we can. Those undocumented who have been here for at least ten years should be considered for permanent residency since chances are now they have families born and raised in the United States. I agree with the Alliance for a Sustainable USA that this country’s immigration system needs desperate change. I just simply cannot agree on what that change is.