Immigration Myths

Myth #1: Immigration lawyers are an objective source of information on immigration reform.

Fact: These bottom feeders make their living supporting illegal aliens and legal immigrants. Their point of view suffers from an obvious pro-immigrant bias. The more immigrants there are, the more money the lawyers make.

Myth #2: America must be both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.

Fact: This is a half truth. America was once a nation of immigrants during the great immigration waves of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. But our immigrant past does not constitute a valid argument for continuing high levels of immigration.

Myth #3: America is fundamentally the same country it was during the great waves of immigration.

Fact: America has changed drastically since the time when a largely unsettled continent lay before the early explorers, colonists, pioneers and immigrants. Now our population is over 300 million and expected to double again by the end of this century. Our natural resources which once seemed inexhaustible are now seriously depleted with petroleum reaching peak production more than 30 years ago in the 1970s, water becoming over committed, arable land becoming developed or destroyed, and other minerals becoming harder and harder to find. Finite natural resources means there will be less for each of us even without further population growth. Why would anyone want to ignore that elementary fact?

Myth #4: We need to acknowledge those illegals that are already here.

Fact: We do acknowledge them and also, the fact that they are, well --- illegal. We can further acknowledge them through vigorous and continuous internal enforcement using E-verification of work status, and expedited due process. We need enough immigration judges to assure that each case can be heard within 24 hours with appeals limited to one week based on narrowly defined criteria. Unnecessary family separations should not be one of those criteria. Families should be repatriated as a unit. Minor children should never be left behind regardless of citizenship.

Myth #5: Immigration laws are not working for employers and families.

Fact: While this may be true, they are in the minority. If the laws were enforced, they would work for all the other American citizens, labor unions and professional organizations whose members oppose illegals and the excessive legal immigration quotas that drive down wages, usurp American jobs and increase the level of poverty. Chain immigrations multiply the legal quota many fold and represent a huge loophole in the law. Families should be required to apply as a unit or forever forgo the possibility of legal immigration.

Myth #6: Americans support comprehensive immigration reform (CIR).

Fact: No one can make this assertion because Americans have never been given an opportunity to express an opinion, one way or the other, on a comprehensive list of potential individual reform measures or approaches. Most often the only stark choice given is between mass amnesty and mass deportation. Where is the middle ground for Americans to react to?

Myth #7: CIR is not amnesty.

Fact: This may or may not be true depending on what is meant by CIR. It is true that amnesty, legally-defined, is the forgiveness of an offense without penalty. If any penalty is imposed, even if it is just a slap on the wrist or unenforceable requirements to pay fines and back taxes and learn English, that is technically not amnesty. However, the commonly understood meaning of that term is any policy that permits the illegals to remain and work in this country instead of returning to their homelands and staying there until their turn comes up for legal immigration. Going to the back of the line is meaningless if illegals are allowed to remain here while waiting their turn while legal applicants must wait in their own countries.

Myth #8: Population-driven economic growth is sustainable indefinitely.

Fact: The limit of finite natural resources per capita as population increases without bounds is zero. The question is how far down this road do we want to go? How far can we go before the quality of life and standard of living is reduced for each of us?

At 20 metric tons per year per capita, 300 million additional people will pump 6 billion more tons of carbon pollutants into the atmosphere every year. This will reduce the biodiversity of our planet at the same time as we are touting diversity among our human population

Population-driven economic growth is unsustainable in the long run.

Myth #9: Legal immigration and illegal aliens cost taxpayers nothing.

Fact: There is a plethora of studies that argue to the contrary. The studies that suggest otherwise often are based on inadequate assumptions and incomplete analysis. A careful study of education and welfare costs for immigrants of all kinds and their progeny reveals a quite different picture as does a review of emergency room usage and indigent care in hospitals attributable to illegal aliens and their children. None of the studies have evaluated the costs arising from population growth such as collateral damage to the environment, increased traffic congestion, depletion of natural resources, and the threat to our culture, language and the rule of law.

Myth #10: We can't enforce our way out of this problem.

Fact: Such a statement is at best premature since we have never made a concerted effort at the border and internally to enforce the law and repatriate those who have violated it. This myth suggests that if we simply repeal the laws against immigration, robbery, murder and mayhem, that will solve all our problems. If we used E-verification of work status and promptly repatriated those who are here illegally, that would go a long way toward making our borders secure. Who would want to pay a coyote $3,000 and make a long and dangerous journey into a foreign land if they knew involuntary repatriation at their own expense would be the likely outcome?

Myth #11: Enforcement efforts have resulted in more human smuggling and deaths.

Fact: The open invitation to illegals created by the 1986 amnesty is the primary cause of the increase in smuggling and deaths. The illegals believe that if they can escape the immediate environs of the border, there is little to fear from an ineffective and discontinuous internal enforcement effort. Moreover, they believe that eventually the bleeding heart liberals, immigration lawyers, immigration special interests, and disloyal citizens will succeed in getting another amnesty approved. This is the strongest possible incentive to violate the border.

Myth #12: Opposition to illegal aliens and excessive legal immigration is based on bigotry, racism or nativism.

Fact: There are many reasons to oppose illegal aliens and excessive legal immigration some of which are cited above. National security, national sovereignty and the national interest are other such reasons. Pro-illegals resort to ad hominem arguments, hyperbole and name-calling because they have few substantive point so view.