Kerby Anderson

Immigration will still be a big issue this year. That is why we need to be asking good questions, especially of our elected representatives. Michael Brown, in a recent column, asks four good questions that we might want to ask of those who are supposed to be trying to fix our immigration system. He admits that he is not an expert and has no agenda. He is genuinely asking these questions. He asks, “if illegal immigrants are flooding our country, what’s so controversial about building a border wall?” I think this is a reasonable question. You can’t seriously say it costs too much when the federal budget this year will exceed $4.1 trillion. You can’t say a wall (or a steel fence) won’t work when we have many examples of them working in other countries and even in this country. Second, “since when has anyone been able to force us to take in immigrants?” He wonders why the way we treat those in a migrant caravan has now become “a test of our national identity?” We have a long track record of compassionate treatment of refugees. In fact, he reminds us that the United States has a larger immigrant population than any other country. He also wonders, “what’s so controversial about wanting to preserve our national identity?” People come to America for a reason. “If we cease to be America, there is no reason for people to come here.” All we have to do is look at the growing Muslim influence in European countries to see how a country’s culture can radically change. Finally, he wants to know why we can’t “make a path for citizenship, with penalties, for those who came in illegally years ago but have been working jobs, obeying laws, and contributing to the good of society?” These are the kinds of questions we need to be asking our elected representatives. They deserve thoughtful responses.