The US is a nation built on illegal immigration

Considering the hyperbole flying across the social media space regarding which president took the most unconstitutional action, it is easy to forget that many of our ancestors came here as "settlers" and "immigrants". But it is well documented that Christopher Columbus intentionally gave blankets that were used by the sick among his group of explorers to the native Indians in the hopes of killing them off. That was just the start.

Had the native Indians any notice of the plans of the early settlers of this country and the power to stop them, most surely, they would have prevented the settling of the US by white invaders. If they had newspapers, and an advanced government, almost surely, the white men they saw on their shores would be "illegal immigrants", "invaders" or worse, "white trash".

It should be noted that in recent years, this country hit a 25-year low in birth rate. If we don't let enough immigrants into the country, we're going to be looking to Japan for ideas on how to manage and care for a fast growing elderly population. The solution in Japan is not all that surprising. They want to build robots that will care for their aging population.

Japanese immigration policy is stricter by far than ours. As a result, they have a low birth rate, a slow economy and projections show that they are poised to lose at least 30% of their population within 50 years. Is that where we want to go?

Does anyone remember what it says at the base of the Statue of Liberty?

“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.”

Those people come here to the land of opportunity for a reason. To make their lives better, and in so doing, they find ways to make the lives of others better, too. It is a basic principle of life that when you make your life better, the best way to do it is to help others and make their life better. I know this from personal experience.

The current immigration policy and debate suggests that we are being very selfish to the point of self-destruction. There is no evidence that Mexican immigrants are taking jobs that Americans want. They are picking the produce we see at the market, they are keeping house at work and at home where people can afford it, they are doing the menial labor that most Americans don't want to do. Unless of course, you're working on a post PhD thesis, then there is real competition for the janitor space. By the way, I also note that in the landscaping space, white men dominate in Utah. I know this because the landscaper I hired to keep my lawns for the last few years was white. Even his crew was white.

(If you want to bring jobs home, deal withe strong dollar first.)

This country was built by immigrants, from top to bottom. It is not white, black or brown. It is a wonderful mix of everything from everywhere, providing the greatest possibility for our survival. The diversity of our nation is essential to our survival.