Is The Melting Pot Boiling Over?

America is debating an immigration bill which grants amnesty to more than 10 million illegal immigrants, allows a maximum of 193 million legal immigrants over 20 years, and would probably result in 100 million new legal immigrants. As this influx would reshape America, arguments about our immigration ideology have arisen.

George Washington "always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.” He believed in immigration, but also the rule of law, and was renowned for his inflexible sense of justice. Washington would advocate stern punishment for illegal aliens, not amnesty; if he were in charge, illegal immigrants wouldn’t expect a work release, much less catch & release.

Forward thinkers who always accounted for human nature, our Founders might ask current leaders difficult questions. Why would foreigners honor immigration restrictions when they can simply hide here and await amnesty? Won’t rewarding criminal behavior with U.S. citizenship embolden a biblical flood of new illegal aliens?

The Founders considered America’s western territories a cornucopia. Jefferson thought it would take a hundred generations to populate the Louisiana Territory. If unlimited immigration existed today, America would be sardined like Japan in mere decades; our Founders would still want America to be an asylum, but would favor reasonable immigration limits so that we remain a cornucopia with latent resources.

The “Great Migration” which created our “Melting Pot” would not surprise our Founders, and they would support it in principle. Foreign-influence concerns surfaced when Americans realized 15% of our population was immigrants, resulting in 1920s immigration restrictions which clamped a lid on the melting pot. Pondering this precedent, the Founders would question the wisdom of a bill in which new immigrants alone will comprise 25% to 40% of the American population.

Jefferson believed the masses must possess a certain level of education for self-government to succeed. The Great Migration filled America with a diligent but ignorant underclass, and Jefferson would wonder if corruption was unwittingly abetted by a dupable populace which had never wielded dual-edged liberty.

In colonial America, German immigrants usually only spoke their native language, and tended to congregate in communities which clung to their original customs rather than adopting America’s. Most German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, a colonial analogue for Mexican communities in modern California, Texas & Florida. “Why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our Settlements, and by herding together establish their Language and Manners to the Exclusion ours?” Franklin asked. “Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs.”

125,000 Germans immigrated to colonial America during Franklin’s life--roughly 5% of the 3-million-citizen American nation—and this led to his indelicate remarks about the “Palatine Boors.” One shudders to think what he would say about America’s current immigration situation.

Our modern “solution” to the language problem would also appall Franklin. America does not require immigrants to learn English. Amazingly, it forces government & schools to speak foreign tongues! Franklin thought all American legal documents should be written in English and felt all office holders should speak it; in a world of television and phones, he would want government agencies to conduct verbal business in English as well.

Franklin would be especially sickened by politicians who support absurd & unpopular immigration policies but will not admit so overtly. This duality is typified by Hillary Clinton’s insistence that, “English should be America’s national language, but not its official language.” After Franklin scratched his head, chuckled, and consulted a few lawyers & lexicologists to translate this doublespeak, he might sarcastically note that English either is America’s official national language, or it isn’t.

One uniquely modern American condition which exacerbates immigration is socialism. Colonial immigrants could not force American citizens to support them via welfare programs. Moderners blame immigrants for welfare cost overruns, but the Founders would also indict socialism and its supporters.

Germanics angered by Franklin’s remarks swarmed the ballot box and ousted him from the Pennsylvania legislature, the only time he was ever defeated in an election. Franklin would understand the electoral risks posed by modern immigrants who can exercise suffrage and enact policies which benefit them to the detriment of the nation.

The Founders’ fathers were the first Americans, the original wave that emigrated seeking freedom. The Founders were grateful for America's opportunities, and realized foreigners burdened only by the geography of their birth deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness just as much as Americans. Yet there is a difference between immigration and annexation. Mexico’s population is roughly 100 million, meaning the current immigration bill would theoretically allow every Mexican to become an American. This is not mere immigration policy, but an audacious attempt to homogenize North America. The United States might as well offer Mexico statehood! Our Founders realized America had an altruistic obligation to take in refugees, but they would never comprise America’s long term prosperity or security to achieve this goal.

Our Founders would support immigration yet oppose the current bill, but their most heartfelt observation would be disgust. This bill benefits Democrats who want the votes of immigrants dependent on entitlements, Republicans who hope to provide cheap labor for big business, and Globalists who need to erode US hegemony & sovereignty. Jefferson would be reminded of corrupt Alien Acts colonial America rose up against; most new immigrants at the time were from France and voted Republican, so their enemy party the Federalists increased the naturalization period to deny Republicans new voters. The current immigration legislation reflects deeper problems with our republic than mere immigration policy. It speaks of special interest groups with greater influence than the electorate, and corrupt elected representatives who, as Jefferson warned, “Will purchase the people’s voice, and then make them pay the price.”

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Junto - Caveat Emptor: The Abramoff Scandal

Junto - The Tax Man Cometh

Junto - For A Few Casualties More: Memorial Day

Junto - Is The Melting Pot Boiling Over?

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