First off, almost nobody — not even the ones much farther to the Left than myself — wants to “let every person in who wants in”. That’s a right-wing talking point and nothing more.
With the possible exceptions of those farthest out on either edge of the political bell curve, we all know the danger of allowing violent felons and terrorists on our soil. Of course, if one listens to right-wing media, only red-blooded right-wing Americans realize this. In reality, we all know it. The difference is that the right-wingers seem to think doggone near *everyone* crossing the border as a possible threat to the American way of life (unless their skin’s too pale to warrant suspicion, of course).
As for myself, I know a lot of immigrants, and if there’s one thing that I’ve found, it’s that third-world immigrants work their asses off. They work much harder than the great majority of native-born Americans. I’ve seen it with my own eyes time and time again. And it’s a huge mistake to think they’re somehow less intelligent or less educated than we are (Exhibit A is the article I posted).
Even the Cato Institute — the extremely-brainy part of the Heritage Foundation — admitted they found that illegal aliens (“undocumented immigrants” in the modern parlance) cause less violent crime than native-born Americans. “Legal” immigrants cause even less crime.
Moreover, immigrants tend to be *more* patriotic than most native-born Americans. My wife came to America back in ’81 as an illegal immigrant, got her citizenship under Reagan’s amnesty, and she is certainly more patriotic than I am (even though I’m retired Navy).
And why do third-world immigrants cause less crime than native-born Americans? Because (1) they know what it’s like to live in a crime-ridden society and don’t want to live that life anymore, (2) they couldn’t trust the police where they came from and really don’t want to attract the attention of police (I’ve seen this dynamic many times, btw), (3) they’re too busy trying to build a life for themselves and their families here (see the stats I listed in the article for immigrant entrepreneurship — that’s not a coincidence), and (4) they see how lazy most native-born Americans are, and work circles around most of us.
In other words, America NEEDS the energy, the determination, and the gumption immigrants bring.
Lastly, a story: there were two rich men discussing their workers. One noted how the workers at his factories and shipyards in Greece were so doggone lazy. The other rich man said, “That’s funny, because the Greek workers at my factories and shipyards here in England are my hardest workers.” The lesson is obvious — people who are out of their “comfort zone” work much harder…and that’s what immigrants do.
