If you can't beat them, assimilate them

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

Immigration.  It has become a very divisive issue, and a social issue the big government statists are beating us over the head with.  If you have a problem with securing the border, or you desire that any member of the illegal alien. . . uh, I mean undocumented immigrant. . . group of folks should be deported, you are a racist, a bigot, a xenophobe, and a hateful, angry evil little person.

The offer to build a wall by Donald Trump is what launched the businessman into political prominence in the 2016 Race for the White House.  Apparently, Americans are pretty conservative on the illegal alien... uh, immigration... issue.  However, while securing the border is of the utmost importance, what about those already here?  What about the children of those who are here illegally?  Along with the cry that "it's impossible to deport millions of people" comes the cries about splitting up families, or the sin of sending the Dreamers (persons born on American soil to illegal alien parents) to Mexico when their crime of being in the United States illegally is not of their own, but of their parents.

From the Democrat Party's point of view, "How cold must we be to give the ultimatum of either splitting up families with the deportation of illegal parents, or forcing their children who only know America to be deported with them?"

My entire political life I have been a staunch conservative on the immigration issue.  Article I, Section 9 of the United States Constitution allows Congress to pass legislation to prohibit certain persons from immigrating into the United States if necessary, and to establish immigration protocols to ensure we are receiving people who have been screened regarding disease, criminal history, or any affiliation with enemy groups or countries.  Article IV. instructs the federal government to protect the States from invasion.  Immigration laws are there for a reason, and they should be followed.

My wife is an immigrant from Mexico, and her parents did it the right way.  Rewarding the bad behavior of illegal aliens who have crossed the border in defiance of American law is nothing less than a vicious slap in the face of legal immigrants like my lovely wife.

But, is the "deport them all" position a political argument that can be won in the arena of ideas, and legislatively?  Is it possible that there is another alternative to deporting everyone who has crossed the border illegally?

Otto von Bismarck once said, "Politics is the art of the possible."

What if some form of amnesty, or pathway to citizenship, for some of the illegal aliens is something we cannot avoid?  What if a large number of those folks, if not all, are destined to become legalized legislatively because the "deport them all" concept just can't win on the floor of Congress?  Do we, then, just drop our heads and accept the fact that a vast majority of those folks, because they think it was the Democrats that gave them the opportunity to be Americans, will be legal and will be voting blue?  Are we so foolish that we will then hide in the corner as the Democrats, armed with this army of new voters, seize upon the opportunity to make the United States a one party system where no member of the GOP will every have a chance at the White House, and where the Republicans have no chance of ever achieving a majority in Congress, again?

There's an old saying.  "If you can't beat 'em, then join 'em."

Well, I'm not ready to throw down my arms and become a Democrat, nor will I ever be, but that doesn't mean we are done for.  If all of these illegals and dreamers are destined to become legal, then why not take advantage of the opportunity, and teach them the true history of the American System?  Why not educate them on what it really means to be American?  Why not help them to properly assimilate into American Society, since, in the end, that was all we really wanted them to do in the first place?

Let's turn defeat into victory.

Gosh.  If amnesty, or legalizing the Dreamers, is inevitable, then let's make sure the pathway to citizenship runs head on through the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and educators on American principles and philosophies like yours truly.

Dreamers can still continue to dream about being American, but let's make sure those dreams are patriotic ones about assimilation, and limited government.  Then, we can take the grand scheme of the Democrat Party to kill the GOP with an overwhelming Hispanic vote, and shove it right back in their faces with an army of Constitution admiring Hispanics who understand that liberal policies kill societies, and would make America no different than the failed socialist systems south of the border.

The way to protect our rights to life, liberty and property is to teach everyone that we all have natural rights to life, liberty and property.

Now, that's what I call the pursuit of happiness - and the ultimate dream.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary