Americans generally agree that helping desperate souls who seek a better life is a worthy mission, but it can’t be done at the expense of Americans’ fiscal and personal well-being…
The recent rape of a 14 year old student in Rockville, Maryland has reignited the immigration debate. The older attackers were illegal immigrants, and at least one of them had been detained but not deported before this attack. The incident also happened at roughly the same time the city and the county were planning to cease their work with immigration officials as part of its so-called ‘sanctuary city’ policy.
The words we use in these debates are very important, but they are often used selectively to support political agendas. Compassion is one of the most overused words by immigration advocates. Many people come to this country because it offers a better chance at freedom, security, and prosperity than their home countries. This is all true, but I often remind immigration advocates that we should have compassion for our citizens as well.
The concern for immigrants shouldn’t create harm for those already legally residing here. For example, here in Las Vegas the public schools increasingly have outbreaks of tuberculosis and other communicable diseases. These diseases have largely been eradicated in first-world countries because of access to quality health care. But the influx of immigrants is creating a comeback for these diseases. These are incredibly dangerous diseases that used to be the deepest fears of many parents, yet it’s suddenly hateful and racist to point out that we should have better screening to identify and quarantine (or deny entry to) contagious immigrants. On top of that, the school system often doesn’t have the teachers or resources to accommodate the extra students. All of these problems affect the learning environment of our children. It’s not very compassionate for my daughter to attend increasingly overcrowded, underfunded, and dangerously unhealthy schools because of a vague notion of compassion for immigrants.
Like the student at Rockville High found out, immigrants also commit crimes ranging from rape to social security fraud. On a more basic level, many Americans work very hard but find that excessive taxation for social programs makes it tougher to get ahead. It’s not very kind to call Americans heartless for wanting a controlled border and a legal immigration process that keeps their families safe and their taxes low and well-spent.
Americans generally agree that helping desperate souls who seek a better life is a worthy mission, but it can’t be done at the expense of Americans’ fiscal and personal well-being. Instead of questioning each other’s motivations and using compassion as a club to beat political opponents, American lawmakers can ask how the country can reasonably meet both goals. In this way, the many innocent children fleeing poverty and despotism can get an education, but the children of citizens are protected from diseases and criminals who shouldn’t be here in the first place.
Morgan Deane is an OpsLens Contributor and a former U.S. Marine Corps infantry rifleman. Deane also served in the National Guard as an Intelligence Analyst.
