Building a Fence to Keep the American Dream Out

The inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Fixing the immigration "problem" is a lot easier, I think, than most people make it out to be. First, let me share an anecdote from my own life. Upon returning home from Guatemala with my beautiful adopted daughter, we set about the process of obtaining her "Proof of Citizenship Certificate" from CIS (needed for things like a passport). On the form you submit, it states: "In order to obtain your Proof of Citizenship Certificate you must submit Proof of Citizenship. Acceptable documents include ... Proof of Citizenship Certificate". ! You cannot make this up! The form is called N-600, you'll find this on page 3 of the instructions.

But wait, it gets better. After submission, I received notice from CIS that my application was in process, and that I should not contact them for a status unless one YEAR had passed. Unbelievable. All is well that ends well (we got her certificate after about 9 months), but if the rest of the immigration process is anything like this...

Which brings me to the real issue. What ever happened to accepting immigrants with open arms? Does anyone even know what's written at the Statue of Liberty's feet or what it means? Some of my ancestors came here with little more than the clothes on their backs, and yet, a person cannot immigrate in that fashion today. And frankly, the way we operate now is an affront to the American Dream.

People would not be paying smugglers thousands of dollars to sneak them across our southern border if money was the sole issue for them. In the vast majority of cases, it is not. I have met many "illegals" here in Georgia and listened to their stories. The issue is simply that there does not exist a legal way for them to enter the country. There is no form, no process, no visa that will admit them.

Fix this fundamental problem with our immigration laws and the rest will pretty much solve itself. All people want is a way to share in the American Dream, and we betray the dreams of our founders and forefathers by not giving it to them.

Thanks for reading.