By March Twisdale
I recently got a new job. During the hiring process, I filled out government forms warning me of severe consequences should I answer the questions dishonestly. Falsifying my identity is (and should be) a serious crime. Even my new boss could get in trouble! As I signed my name, feeling the weight of the act, it hit me that immigrants working illegally in our nation must lie. How does that feel? And, why do we set them up for that?
Immigrating to America is challenging enough. Why make it harder by allowing people into our country under questionable circumstances? Why set people up to fail? That’s what happened during the Biden Administration, and millions of people around the world suffered.
Over the past 30 years, my ex-husband’s family have shared their stories of immigrating from Mexico. Those plus conversations with my housemates and myriad other friends who have immigrated from the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, Ukraine, Syria, France, Australia, Mexico, Canada, Honduras, and Cuba (to name a few) have given me insight into why immigrants come to America.
We live in a land of material opulence, so many Americans automatically assume people come here for economic success. Maybe. Sure. But the immigrants I have listened to have a different answer: “America is a nation of laws, applied equally to everyone. Where I’m from, if you know the right people or have enough money, you can get away with anything.”
I believe most immigrants, especially the good type of people we want to see more of in our nation, are searching for greater stability, less corruption, and more fairness. That is what we’re talking about when we say America is a land of opportunity.
Opportunity, however, cannot exist without fairness. And fairness cannot exist without laws, faithfully upheld. Lawlessness (by individuals, organized groups, the police, military, or politicians) is a peaceful society’s Kryptonite. Unlike radicalized American protesters devoting their weekends to “recreational activism,” most immigrants do not find “revolution, rebellion, or violent uprising in the streets” appealing. That’s what many are trying to escape.
There are powerful actors and influencers at play in America. These extremely well-funded and organized “chaos-makers” are experts at riling up native-born Americans itching for a cause. Be careful how quickly you accept what they offer. It may not be as clear cut as it seems; those you follow may not deserve your trust, and you could end up hurting the very people you’re trying to help.
When it comes to immigration, the good people are usually hoping to provide their family with the best life possible. The bad people are really bad. They are leeches on society, predators pursuing new hunting grounds, rapists, drug dealers, and murderers fleeing the consequences of their crimes, cartel members following orders, domestic abusers, and ill-contents with no intention of working hard, sacrificing for others, or contributing to a better society.
This is why I want strong borders that thoroughly vet people before they enter our country. Not after. An efficient, well-run process will increase support for “the good people” we want here, while firmly turning away “the bad people.”
Between January 2021 and January 2025, our borders were severely weakened from within, tempting millions into the greedy grasp of International Human Trafficking Cartels. Our failure to properly maintain border control led directly to a blended transatlantic/transpacific human trafficking disaster that dwarfed anything ever seen before.
We will never know how many people were skimmed off the top, sold into sex slavery, forced labor, coerced to serve as drug mules, murdered by the knives of organ harvesters, or lost forever to other unspeakable horrors. We do know the situation is extremely bad. In September 2023, the United Nations concluded that the United States-Mexico border was the world’s deadliest land route for migrants, and in 2022, nine (9) Mexican cities rank among the ten (10) deadliest cities on Earth.
If you’ve ever read “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, you know how bad it can get. This is the dark side of the immigrant experience, and it’s about 100 times worse for people at odds with our immigration laws, because they are forced to hide from the very people who could help protect them.
Bottom line: Non-Americans illegally living in our country are especially vulnerable to abuse of all kinds. And that doesn’t look like compassion to me. So, what do I want?
I want our national borders to be absolutely controlled, all relative laws to be crystal clear and adhered to thoroughly, and I want no wiggle room for states that might become an open wound in what I view as the skin of our body politic. I want changes to our immigration laws to occur legislatively, legitimately, and lawfully – reflecting the expressed will of American citizens.
In Proverbs 31:8-9, King Lemuel’s mother is quoted as saying: “Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and needy.”
There is a problem. It exists outside of our border, at our border, and within our border. If 330,000,000 people consider the issue, we’re going to have more than just two ideas of how to solve it. I want to live in a country where people are encouraged to offer up their ideas for public consideration and discussion. I want my fellow citizens to appreciate the effort. I want our duly elected representatives to bring these ideas to the halls of Congress, where a decision will be made. Do it? Don’t do it? Amend it? Send it back to committee for further review? Repeat.
That is America the beautiful, and that’s why so many people want to become Americans. Let’s not ruin it before they even get here.
