Non-citizen Patriots
- All men of military age are required to register for Selective Service, including illegal immigrants.
- One in ten soldiers who have died in Iraq were immigrants.
- About five percent (!!!!) of soldiers in the US armed forces are illegal immigrants.
- The first solder to die in Iraq was Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, who was an illegal immigrant from Guatemala.
- Many immigrant soldiers who died in Iraq enlisted as soon as they arrived. These people fought and died for a new home they were never allowed to enjoy, and they died for freedoms and principles from which they never personally benefitted.
- Illegal immigrants make up less than three percent of the US population, and yet comprise five percent of US armed forces. That means they are about twice as likely to enlist as a citizen.
...maybe that's not such a crazy question after all.
But what sort of messages does it send to all of the people who legally became citizens of this country if we simply allow illegals entrance? What sort of social strain have illegals put on our social infrastructre when most do not contribute back (taxes)? what about a national language? How costly is it to teach in spanish and english?
These are, of course, the usual concerns. Fortunately, there are some rather simple answers. But what sort of messages does it send to all of the people who legally became citizens of this country if we simply allow illegals entrance? That's difficult to say. Obviously, we should do what we can to prevent people from just wandering into our country. Border security makes very good sense, and not just for the sake of steming the tide of immigration. However, the question is how we treat people once they're already here. Do we treat them as criminals, or do we treat the issue as a problem of paperwork? There are millions of people who do not even realize that they are illegal immigrants, and have grown up in the United States thinking themselves to be citizens in good standing. Many of these people show a great deal of promise. What sort of social strain have illegals put on our social infrastructre when most do not contribute back (taxes)? Curious that you should ask. I thought it was rather common knowledge that illegal immigrants are actually enormous tax boons for America, since they definitely do pay taxes, and they definitely don't draw on America's most lucrative social services (Social Security, in particular). What about a national language? What about it? We don't have one. Never have, and probably never will. When the founding fathers debated the national language issue, it was a tossup between French and German. They wisely decided not to admit the existence of any such thing as a "national language." In any event, people have perceived the languages of immigrant populations as challenges to English for centuries, and yet English continues to grow in importance and esteem in the United States and around the world. It is under no threat today that it hasn't faced before. How costly is it to teach in spanish and english? It isn't. Remember that teachers are drawn from the same populations as students. Where bilingual students are abundant, so are bilingual teachers. Many ESL programs around America have been expensive failures, but others have been thrifty sucesses (I help teach science at one such program). It's a function of the quality of the particular program, not ESL in geleral.
The questions you ask are on the minds of a lot of people. I urge you to avoid forming your answers from political rhetoric. Look at the data.
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