America or Bust!
One of the first acts of the newly inaugurated President, Donald J. Trump, was to fire several high level officials within the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Review, which oversees U.S. Immigration Courts. Those courts presently have a backlog of over three million cases!
Dr. Thomas Sowell has said, “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” I would paraphrase by saying, “… who pay no price for failure.”
These now former “Immigration Officials” FAILED at their jobs. Those, who were tasked with “Homeland Security,” failed at their jobs. Former “Border Czars” failed at their jobs. To expect them to improve their performances or to modify their personal outlooks, perspectives, and inclinations is an act of vanity and an exercise in futility.
It has been said that one definition of “insanity” is to do the same things over and over again but expecting a different result. If we want different results, if we want a secure border, and if we want to thwart the ongoing invasion by hordes of illegal aliens, then we MUST DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY.
For decades, the federal government has failed miserably at enforcing the nation’s borders and at controlling illegal immigration. A country, which cannot effectively define or which will not actively enforce its borders, cannot be considered a sovereign nation. Government officials consciously and deliberately turned a blind eye toward a flood of illegal aliens — measured at over 10 million and combined being more than the populations of most individual states. The recent Biden Administration maintained nearly open borders and actively enabled, if not encouraged, what can fairly be described as an invasion. The Biden Administration and Democrats generally demonstrated an objective to change — over time — not only the electorate but also to fundamentally change what it means to be “American.”
No illegal alien has a “right” to citizenship. No foreign national should be privileged to demand residency or citizenship within the United States of America. Residency and Citizenship are privileges, and such privileges should be bestowed only upon persons, whose presence in the United States benefits Americans — the present citizenry.
The advancement of America and the protection of Americans should be the foremost objective of government. Any objective to extend similar privileges, benefits, and standards of living to other persons and peoples around the world should be only secondary, tertiary, or tangential.
Does this mindset represent “tribalism” and “nationalism”? Absolutely, it does. However, if one is not prepared to protect his home(land), then he risks being at the mercy of marauders, barbarians, and foes. Multiculturalism is no culture at all, and diversity merely for the sake of diversity makes for a society as divisive and ineffective as the fickle and feckless “United” Nations. The Tower of Babel offers us a lesson in reverse: A “confounded” people cannot be a united, productive, and successful people. [See Genesis — Ch. 11.] America should not be defined and it certainly cannot exist as an amalgamation of incompatible cultures and non-assimilating persons or peoples.
Citizenship should not be extended to those, who want the benefits of being in America without the sincere desire and commitment to BE Americans. If a prospective citizen is not prepared to sever ties with a former homeland and to declare unequivocally the commitment to be an AMERICAN first and foremost, then that person should NOT be eligible for citizenship.
The Oath of Citizenship neither contemplates nor allows “split” allegiances:
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure [reject] all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same….
Admittedly, oaths do not carry the same weight and solemnity that they formerly held. Nevertheless, what is the likelihood that someone, who entered the country illegally and who blatantly flaunted the nation’s laws, will renounce sincerely prior allegiances and will “bear true faith and allegiance” to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America?
Contrary to increasingly popular belief, America is not merely a collection of diverse and disparate peoples. America was and is defined by moral and societal ideals, which were embraced and espoused by the Founding Fathers. Those ideals were founded upon Classical Liberalism, and the resulting state and government were established to enshrine, advance, and protect individual liberties and personal freedoms. The resulting rights and privileges carry associated and concurrent obligations: productivity, prudence, and personal responsibility. Parties should not expect rights and privileges, much less be allowed to demand the same, without an associated commitment to the necessary sacrifices and commensurate obligations.
America has been described as a “Melting Pot,” but such a crucible is not merely a tool for “mixing” incompatible elements. A “crucible” is defined as:
A vessel used for melting and calcining [purifying] a substance that requires a high degree of heat” … AND … “A place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development.
A “Melting Pot” effectively “destroys” the individual characteristics or traits of what formerly was, and it combines the “purified” substance(s) with other elements, in order to make something new or different, which is improved, better, and stronger. It might be said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” but this can only be the case if the elements or parties are altered, changed, and improved. If persons coming to America do not wish to “change” — do not wish to become Americans — then it is unlikely that they will offer improvement or benefit to America(ns).
Either one is an American or (s)he is not. If one holds or maintains allegiance to a “fatherland” or to the place of one’s birth, that is certainly his or her prerogative, but if an individual’s principal, primary, and first allegiance is not to America and to her people, then those “foreigners” should not be afforded citizenship, and they certainly should not be called, “Americans.”
Former President Teddy Roosevelt said in 1915:
There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts “native” before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as any one else.
