8/8/2017 - Cal Thomas Townhall.com
"Sound
practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or
the like; normal native intelligence." -- Dictionary.com's definition of
common sense.
Sometimes
what used to be called "common sense" can seem radical in Washington,
which is used to practicing senseless policies and funding programs that don't
work.
Immigration
is a perfect example. Everyone says the system is broken. There have been no
substantive policy changes since the '60s, but until last week few had put
forth a sensible and credible plan for fixing what ails it.
Thanks to
Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA), we now have a plan worthy
of serious consideration, even implementation. Last week, they introduced
legislation that, according to USA Today, would "overturn the rules for
becoming an American citizen and cut in half the number allowed in."
There are
three keys to their proposal. The first is that people seeking to immigrate to
America must possess skills qualifying them for a job, or have a job waiting so
they would not become part of our bloated welfare and dependency culture.
The second
key concerns numbers and the goal of eliminating chain migration. Despite
counter arguments based on the Emma Lazarus poem about the world sending
America its "tired and poor," poems are not the Constitution, or the
law, otherwise Emily Dickinson might have become president. Poems are about
sentiment. The right immigration policy is about survival.
No nation
can maintain its character without controlling its borders. Think of a simple
analogy. If I fill a glass with water and then pour milk into the glass, the
more milk I pour, the more water is displaced. That's the United States, absent
a sound and sane immigration policy.
Key number
three is language. It isn't difficult for immigrants to learn enough English to
function in America. I meet them in Washington and everywhere I travel. Here's
the official government position for becoming a citizen: "To become a
naturalized U.S. citizen, you must pass the naturalization test. At your
naturalization interview, you will be required to answer questions about your
application and background. You will also take an English and civics test
unless you qualify for an exemption or waiver."
Under
current policy, non-citizens don't have to take an English test if they are 50
years old, or older, and have lived in the U.S. as permanent residents for at
least 20 years. If someone has lived in America for 20 years and still can't
speak English, doesn't that suggest a problem?
The
Cotton-Perdue measure would also eliminate the Green Card Lottery, which, in an
effort to add diversity to the country, grants 50,000 green cards each year to
countries that don't normally send many immigrants to the U.S.
Anyone who
thinks immigration is a partisan issue should take note, as the Center for
Immigration Studies has done, of a similar plan proposed in the mid-'90s by
Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-Texas), who as chair of the U.S. Commission on
Immigration Reform, advocated for increased restrictions on immigration. Her
effort was squashed by a combination of the corporate right (which wants cheap
labor) and the cultural left (which wants more votes for Democrats). The common
sense of these reforms remains.
President
Trump says he will sign a bill containing the Cotton-Perdue language, but as
with so much else in dysfunctional Washington, its success will depend on
whether Congress has any common sense left to do something that is
transparently necessary and will benefit the country. After the debacle over
health insurance, raising the debt ceiling (more debt), suggestions that tax
reform may have to wait until after a budget is passed (more spending) and a
new poll showing public approval of Congress at just 10 percent, no one should
be optimistic.
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