Assimilate or leave …

Obviously, we’re a nation of immigrants. Let’s just get that out of the way upfront. 

Among the many miracles of the United States is how well so many people from so many different parts of the world over the past couple of centuries became one – Americans. 

It’s something too many of us take for granted all too often. 

Most immigrants came here seeking a better and different life for themselves and their families, not simply to recreate the country and political, religious and cultural environment they left behind; if it was so great there they probably wouldn’t have left in the first place. 

And for the most part, the nation delivered on the promise of a better life. The only thing the nation asked in return was to join fully in our American experiment where who they were, and where they came from, mattered less than what they did from this point on. That’s what almost all the immigrants in wave after wave wanted anyway – a fresh start.

A break with the past. 

Our nation didn’t ask them to abandon their culture and traditions. It simply asked them to join a larger, newer American culture where their origins, or their religion, or their personal or political beliefs, or wealth, shouldn’t affect how they– or their neighbors – were treated under the law.

Established laws – and the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution – seemed too good to be true for many immigrants. Especially for those fleeing environments under the tyranny of an absolute despot, or a theocracy, or a dynastic plutocracy. They were grateful to be here.

They wanted to become citizens. They worked hard to become citizens. They wanted to be enfolded into this America as full partners. And in gratitude, they gave back to this country, often with their lives defending our freedoms and the freedoms of others around the world.   

Was it always a perfect process?  No.  The first generation of immigrants typically faced an uphill battle.  There was discrimination in employment, in housing and acceptance into society. But by the second or third generation, most of these barriers were falling as these later generations more fully assimilated into the American experiment.

As time went on, most became Americans first, and Italians, Poles, Irish, Russians, Cubans, Venezuelans, Armenians, Greeks, Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Vietnamese, Thais and whatever else second.  And they were proud to be Americans. 

If someone in a foreign land asked them their nationality they would say American.

That’s because they assimilated. They accepted the Constitution as the ultimate law of the land. And they believed that while America is not perfect by any measure, it’s a lot better place to live than most other countries in the world, all things considered. 

Including where their parents and grandparents came from. 

That’s why we don’t have a huge outflow of people from the United States every year. But we do have millions of people coming here – legally and otherwise – from other regions. 

Some of our latest immigrant classes – the ones we read about all the time – are quite different from past immigrants.  

Many of these relatively recent immigrants, particularly those from Latin and Central America, simply aren’t interested in ever going through the proper processes for becoming citizens of the United States. They’ve bypassed all that already by sneaking across our borders or overstaying visas or temporary work permits. They truly believe – and some politicians have encouraged this belief – that once they are here there’s nothing we can do about it. They’re already here and they’re here to stay.

It’s a classic squatter’s mentality.  Far from “living in the shadows” many now arrogantly flaunt their illegal immigrant status as publicly as possible, whenever possible. They refuse to accept any distinction between themselves and legal residents; they feel that since they are already here they’re automatically entitled to all the rights, privileges, and benefits afforded U.S. citizens.      

That includes public assistance to feed, clothe and help house them, and scholarships, grants-in-aid and in-state tuition to taxpayer-funded colleges and universities. But it also includes new benefits as well – such as interpreters, special teachers and special classes for Spanish-speaking students, and “sanctuary” city policies that limit cooperation with Federal ICE detainer requests to hand over illegal immigrants for deportation after being caught breaking other U.S. laws.

Consequently, to get the benefits to which they feel “entitled” many have falsified official documents, including using fake Social Security numbers, to fraudulently qualify for a wide variety of social programs, tax credits, and health benefits.  The annual cost to American taxpayers is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.   

What do we get in return?  Too many of these same illegal immigrants undercut American wages, take jobs from American citizens, and defraud our tax system.  Then some mock our laws and dare us to find and deport those here illegally, even staging highly publicized mass protests in major cities defying local authorities to do anything about it.

And there are millions of them.   

They are ingrates.  Especially considering where they came from – third-world countries at best beset with violent crime, human trafficking, excruciating poverty, widespread unemployment and oppressive political regimes that give banana republics a bad name.  

They aren’t seeking asylum and protection; they’re just looking to make a buck at our expense. They are taking money from our economy, often untaxed, and sending much of it back to where they came from in the form of untraceable remittances. And no, they aren’t simply doing jobs American citizens won’t do – they’re doing those jobs for lower wages unscrupulous employers know our own workers won't accept. Plus they are thumbing their nose at us in the process. 

That’s bad enough, but then we also have certain immigrants and “refugees” from the Middle East who not only want us to take them in, but actually hate us, our laws, our culture, and our tolerance for people of other faiths, sexual preferences, lifestyles, and belief systems.       

Some of them want to replace our laws with Sharia law, where adulterers, idolaters, homosexuals, blasphemers, and anyone who doesn’t believe and worship as they do can be put to death, and slavery is acceptable. Oh, and let’s not forget that in their worldview women are considered property and can be beaten by their husbands at will, or even killed by their families for immodest behavior – like being alone with a male other than a relative.  Or refusing at 12 or 13 years old to go along with an arranged marriage to a man many times their age.   

Certainly, not all Hispanic or Middle East immigrants are bad people. I’m sure many of them want to become part of our American culture and will accept our laws, our values, our culture, and cherish the same freedoms we do as protected in the Constitution. They will learn our language, strive to become citizens, and participate as full partners in our institutions. 

I welcome anyone who comes here legally and works to assimilate themselves into our culture. 

But I feel strongly that any immigrant who isn’t willing to adapt to us, and more importantly accept and embrace our freedoms and values, is not welcome here.  

That includes immigrants who make no effort to learn English, and demand that we produce all our government documents in their language of choice.  

Honestly, that’s ridiculous.  If I moved to Mexico, I’d expect to have to learn to speak Spanish fluently so I could communicate with the majority of people already living and working there. And the majority – for now – of the people living and working here in the U.S. speak English.

Also not welcome is anyone who accepts female genital mutilation as a cultural rite, believes promiscuity and adultery are punishable by death, thinks gays should be executed, or wants to isolate themselves in enclaves with Sharia law superseding American law.   

These attitudes simply can’t be reconciled with American culture. Ever. 

And if they are already here – legally or illegally – and they refuse to assimilate and get with the program after a relatively short time, then they can pack up their shit and go someplace else. 

Preferably back to whatever crap hole they came from. 

Despite what some politicians claim, we don’t have a responsibility to take in everyone who wants to come here. The plaque on the State of Liberty is a poem, not a legally binding agreement. While we have a long history of accepting immigrants seeking asylum, we have no legal – or even moral – obligation to accept anyone who breaks our laws or wishes to destroy us or our way of life.

When you enter our country illegally, or overstay your visa or work permit, you have broken our laws.  When you openly want to replace our laws and values with your own, or seek to bring your own racial, ethnic, and sexual bigotry into our nation, we should stop you from entering.

Former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal – himself the descendent of South Asian immigrants – articulated it succinctly when he said: “Immigration without assimilation is invasion.” 

This is America. A real nation. If someone isn’t willing to assimilate, they should leave.