I am a father, I am a husband, I am a citizen, I am a member of the RTC and I am an immigrant.
My father came to America from a small town in Sicily seeking a better life for himself and greater opportunity for his children. My father entered the United States legally and like many of his countrymen at the time he only had a tourist visa. Within six months he had secured a work visa and through hard work and perseverance he achieved residency. Upon achieving residency my mother and I were allowed to enter the country and, in 1973, we became proud American citizens. My father worked hard all his life; he was never on welfare, food stamps or any other government program. The only check he ever received was Social Security.
Somewhere along the way this system that had worked so well for so many years broke down to the mess that we now have.
I believe the vast majority of the illegal aliens in this country are here for the same reason that my family came here, to build a better life for their children and themselves.
As we proceed with immigration reform we must insist that our politicians put the interests of the country and its citizens first and their party a distant second. Republicans need to articulate a positive, responsible vision of our shared values, family, individual responsibility, entrepreneurship, freedom and opportunity.
Residency is a requirement but citizenship is a privilege. If we are to support immigration reform the following common sense principles must be included for the good of the country.
- We must insist on secure borders. We cannot let the chaos that exists now continue.
- Voting rights should be restricted to American citizens, and non-citizens who have achieved legal residency for a minimum of 10 years. This will minimize any short-term political gain for either party.
- If you are an illegal alien or have not yet achieved residency and are convicted of a violent crime, you should serve your sentence, be deported and that crime remain on your permanent record.
- Social services should be limited to the truly needy until residency is achieved. Coming to this country is a choice and the services we offer are not an entitlement.
- The process of obtaining a work visa, applying for residency and ultimately achieving citizenship should be affordable and uncomplicated. We should not allow the bureaucrats to make the process so onerous or expensive that people won’t do it. However, taxpayer money should never be used to subsidize any part of the process.
In the past 10 years I have had the good fortune of traveling and living in many countries around the world. I can assure you that America is by far the fairest, most accommodating and compassionate country to its immigrants. Common sense reforms and honest enforcement of our borders would ensure a welcome to immigrants and safety for our citizens.
This column is supplied by the Republican Town Committee.