by Zain Jaffer
There was a time when I first came to America that I viewed it as the land of milk and honey. The land of opportunity. I am an immigrant, got my citizenship, and all the fruits of being an American.
During my time, it did fulfill that dream, that promise. I became successful in my business because of that promise.
But that promise for millions of Americans is under threat. It seems the attacks are coming from everywhere. Politically we are a divided country, between liberals and conservatives, but also between other groups.
Last Veterans Day, we saw protesters tearing down the American flag. Kneeling when the Star Spangled Banner is played, and sometimes even the burning of the Stars and Stripes, is part of our history. While our Constitution is about freedom, sometimes I think we are overtly abusing it.
America was built on the hard work of its immigrants. The stories of how immigrants from all over the world toiled hard when they first arrived but made it to the top corner office is a common occurrence. Success is never a sure thing, but in America your chances are greatly increased if you are willing to study and work hard, without the need to have rich parents who will give you your fortune.
Unfortunately that dream is being whittled away. Right now we are in very hard times. Interest rates are high, personal savings are depleted, credit card debt is overdrawn, and monthly payments from mortgage, car, and student loans are taking their toll on many Americans. Add to that an impending recession that threatens to bring more layoffs.
Then we have the strikes coming from the UAW, asking for wage hikes. In a growth mode economy, maybe that’s a good idea. But in a forecasted recession, maybe not so good.
Now we have a situation where we have opened our border in the South, and everyday thousands of illegal immigrants trickle in. Our political deadlock has made it almost impossible to break the impasse. So now these people have to compete with Americans who are already facing unemployment.
Right now our resources are strained. Expensive debt has made loans expensive, the stock markets and business slower, and businesses like real estate and other sectors less viable.
Our cities now have large homeless encampments. We are already having problems housing the homeless, and now we want to add more to their ranks?
Everyone who has made it here through legal immigration means have gone through a barrage of screenings, questions, interviews and the like. The questions that the State Department asks every potential visitor includes membership in terrorist organizations, criminal cartels, genocide and trafficking groups, and the like. Although it is not foolproof, it does manage to screen out a lot of the undesirable criminal elements who try to make it here.
But when America allows illegal immigrants to simply walk over the border without as much as an interview, we open ourselves to very dangerous groups, syndicates, cartels, and the like. We already have enough crime problems. Why add to that? Why is it that we want to add gasoline to dry tinder? Do we want to start a fire?
Granted that there are many who deserve to be here because they have the qualities that make a country great. But why not make them go through what I went through? If they can’t hurdle that, how can they claim they have the qualities that will make them successful citizens here?
If we all find out that this open border policy is being enacted simply for the purpose of favoring one political party with sympathetic votes during Presidential and Congressional elections, and allow them to win districts over to their side because of a preponderance of sympathetic voters, then what have we become? Just for the sake of holding political power, we will destroy our way of life?
It is now time to stop the open border policy down South. This is not the way to make America a great country.
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