Why the Tea Party Movement Must Oppose Illegal Immigration and Amnesty

By Ronald W. Mortensen, (Part I of II)

Ronald W. Mortensen, PhD, is a retired career U.S. Foreign Service Officer and former Society for Human Resource Management senior executive.

While I was working on legislation designed to address the problems associated with illegal alien driven, child identity theft in Utah, a supporter of the "Tea Party" movement asked me why I was so concerned about illegal immigration. "After all, aren't illegal immigrants just good, hard working people who are trying to make a better life for themselves and their families," he asked.

I responded that illegal immigration is a direct threat to constitutionally limited government, the rule of law, free markets, private property, individual freedom, and fiscal responsibility.

It is important to understand that illegal aliens are primarily social and economic migrants who leave their countries in order to improve their social and economic status rather than in the search of individual freedom and liberty. As such, their allegiance remains with their countries of origin.

For the most part, illegal aliens come from cultures where power rests with the government rather than with the people, where citizens look to government for a wide range of services rather than being self reliant and where the rule-of-law is weak and corruption is a way of life.

I pointed out that the average illegal alien quickly learns that the rule-of-law doesn't apply to him in the United States. After all, the first act that he takes when coming to the United States is either to sneak across the border or to get a visa by lying to a United States consular officer about his intention to return to his home country.

Then after violating American immigration law, the illegal alien immediately graduates to felony document fraud, felony perjury on I-9 forms, and felony identity theft in order to get jobs with "reputable" employers. This is justifiable in his eyes because that is the way things are done in his country.

Once in the United States, the illegal alien demands special privileges. He speaks his language and expects America to adapt to him. He retains his culture and flag. He expects Americans to give documents issued by his government, such as consular identification cards, the same status as documents issued by the United States. He sends much of his earnings back to his home country. He demands the right to drive without a license and he takes advantage of a wide range of taxpayer provided benefits for both himself and his family.

The illegal alien is often poorly educated. He works at low-paying jobs, lives with other illegal aliens in overcrowded apartments and houses. He frequently participates in gang activities when not at work. He knows little about American culture, traditions, or the Constitution.

The illegal alien distrusts the police and finds nothing shocking about the federal government owning automobile companies, bailing out banks, or providing health care. After all, that is the way things are in his home country.
True individual freedom and personal responsibility may be alien concepts to him and he likely does not understand that individual rights come from God and not from government.

The illegal alien is welcomed and supported by progressives, liberals, and social justice advocates. They teach him that he is a victim and that he has rights; however, they do not teach him constitutional principles or to cherish individual freedom, the rule of law, and personal responsibility.

The left encourages him to take advantage of a wide range of government "entitlements" for both himself and his children and joins in an unholy alliance with businesses to encourage him to commit multiple, job-related felonies while justifying his actions on the grounds of compassion and the unfairness of American immigration laws.

The supporters of illegal immigration justify the fact that illegal aliens routinely use the identities of American children to get jobs because it is being done for the greater good or because they need the workers. They ignore the estimated 1.1. million Arizona kids who have their Social Security numbers stolen and used by illegal aliens and they turn a blind eye to the fact that 75 percent of all illegal aliens have fraudulent Social Security numbers.

Illegal aliens, progressives, liberals, social justice organizations, and Chambers of Commerce write off the damage done to millions of American men, women, and children as unavoidable collateral damage that is necessary for underprivileged illegal aliens to achieve the American dream and for businesses to have a source of low-cost labor.