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OPINION

What Do Immigrants Owe Us?

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
What Do Immigrants Owe Us?
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File

We keep hearing it, over and over again, about how we Americans are somehow morally obligated to aliens – illegal or otherwise. About how we Americans are obligated to allow them into our country without our permission, and once theyre here, to not only subsidize them but to validate the garbage cultures that they came from and now insist on replanting in our sacred soil. But theres a question that we need to start asking, particularly Republican politicians, whenever the subject of immigration arises. I dont mean the Republican politicians who were all for illegal immigration; these are the ones who insist that we somehow owe these people “dignity,” as if it is we, and not their own actions, that have somehow deprived them of it. No, when were talking about immigration, we need to ask a very simple question and demand an answer.

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What do immigrants owe us?

Because we dont owe them anything. Nothing. The terrible conditions of their trash homelands are not the fault of America or Americans. It is the fault of the people who lived there, their people, not ours. And yes, I know about colonialism. We didnt colonize most of the places these people are coming from, but even if we did, lets be honest here. Colonization is the best thing that has happened to most of the world. Without colonization, most of them would still be living in huts, curing diseases by waving smoking twigs over the sick, and occasionally dining on one another. All you have to do to lose respect for most of the world is go there, which is why most of the people there want to go here.

So, what do immigrants owe us? And not just illegal ones. The legal ones, too, because we seem to have a problem with ingratitude on the part of losers our country, for some reason, took in. Take Ihan Omar, as her brother apparently did as his unlawfully wedded wife. She came from a dumpster country and is now intent on turning our country into a similar dumpster, all the time endlessly complaining and whining about how terrible it is. A simple thank you” would suffice, but were never going to get that from her. She hates us. And she hates us in large part because our cultures success shames her by highlighting the comparative total failure of her own. She takes it as a personal insult that Americans dont suck, and she should.

No, demanding a little gratitude is not too much to ask. Immigrants owe us that. And there are some other things that immigrants owe us, like obeying our laws. Now, of course, illegal aliens, by definition, dont obey our laws. They apparently dont owe us that. We Americans owe us that. If we Americans violate our laws, the Soros prosecutors these teaming hordes of Third World peasants help elect will gladly prosecute us. But somehow, the standard got waived for them. They can ignore our laws and come here, and were not supposed to do anything about it because reasons, and shut up, youre a racist, and it makes the Pope sad if you have immigration laws.

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Oh, its not just our immigration laws that theyre ignoring. No, its a whole bunch of laws. Lets start with the ones against identity theft. A huge number of illegal aliens rely on identity theft to make their money here in this country. Were somehow supposed to just wave that off as if it doesnt matter. But were also supposed to ignore their other crimes. Look at the Somali fraud in Minneapolis. But it gets worse, because some of it gets Americans hurt and killed. How many times have you seen a couple of decent Americans slain in a car crash caused by some hammered Central American whos already had four DUIs and still hasnt been kicked out of the country? A lot. Too many times.

Is it somehow unreasonable for us to demand that immigrants, legal and illegal, at least obey our laws? Well, apparently it is. I dont know who agreed to waive that obligation. I certainly wasnt consulted, because I didnt sign up for it, and I kind of doubt you did either. But there it is. Apparently, immigrants dont owe us respect for our laws.

Well, do they at least owe us putting their shoulders to the grindstone, and working, and supporting themselves, and doing all those great things that were always told immigrants to do? No, they dont owe us that either—quite the opposite. We owe them a living. We owe them food and shelter and schooling and medical care and everything else. Once again, I was not consulted on this, nor were you. I thought we lived in something like a democracy, but apparently, we dont. Apparently, you and I, citizens of the United States of America, dont get a vote on this. We just get the check.

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How about loyalty? Can we agree that immigrants owe loyalty to this country since theyre supposedly adding to the beautiful mosaic/wonderful tapestry of America with their diversity and stuff? No, they apparently dont owe us loyalty. Theyre free to take the side of foreign countries against us. Look at all the Palesimpians and similar mutants who adore Hamas and hate America and share that bile here on our soil. Is it too much for us to expect them to take our side when they come here? Yes, apparently.

Do they have an obligation to become Americans, as opposed to what they were? When you become American, you buy into our culture and our system and our way of doing things. You dont expect to get off the banana boat and immediately start demanding changes so that were more like the roiling cesspool you crawled out of. We dont owe you changes to make you more comfortable with us; you immigrants owe us changes to make us more comfortable with you. To think otherwise is to misunderstand the proper nature of the relationship. As an immigrant, you are an applicant respectfully requesting admission to our great nation. And we are its gatekeepers, deciding whether you should be allowed in. Or at least, thats the proper construction. The immigration hacks – who want a bunch of foreigners here both because they hate America and because they think it will add to their own political power – have somehow turned that relationship on its head. Somehow, the onus is on us to become different rather than on the newcomers to become the same. The 2024 election shows that America doesnt buy that. And the glorious tsunami of Trump deportations is just one manifestation of that new reality.

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We should deport every single illegal alien, especially the ones who have shown that they have refused to meet their obligations by ignoring our laws for decades. We keep hearing about how somebodys been here 30 years with a deportation order, and now theyre stunned that ICE is finally acting on it. Oh no, havent those mean conservatives heard of immigration adverse possession/squatter rights? In fact, there was nothing to prevent them from returning home on their own once they received the deportation order; the fact that they stayed is a violation of their obligation to honor our laws. Punt them all.

Now, our new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin got a little bit of pushback from some conservatives who were irritated by his cliché explanation that America is a nation of immigrants.” Its hack, one of those terms thats supposed to end the discussion rather than promote it. Yes, a whole lot of Americans came here directly as immigrants, or are sons and daughters of immigrants. If thats what youre saying, yeah, thats true, and it doesnt mean anything as far as not expecting immigrants to meet their obligations to us. And lets be factual – a lot of legal immigrants do meet their obligations to us. Many legal immigrants have provided valuable services and shown remarkable loyalty to this country. That is an indisputable fact, and we should be happy about that. When we get good people here who want to contribute and conform, we benefit. But that requires them to understand and fulfill their obligations to us.

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Most of us have stories about immigrants who have done things the right way, who have come here and decided they owed us, not the other way around. Lets look at my family. My father-in-law came here from Cuba and served in the United States Army, as did my brother-in-law. My wife came here from Cuba, and she waved goodbye to me, holding a kid, as I deployed for 16 months to Kosovo. They believe they owed us for the chance to become Americans, and they understood their obligation to become Americans and to serve America by honoring its laws, participating in its culture, and supporting its military. No one demanded that they get rid of some of the superficial trappings of their past; we sometimes eat arroz con pollo and black beans for dinner. But they wanted to be Americans, and are.

They, and millions of other legal immigrants, have done it the right way to our countrys indisputable benefit. But see, thats the test. Does it benefit us? Thats the correct test in every case where an immigrant applies to join our country. What is in it for us? What do you bring to us? What are you going to do to make it worth our while to take you in? Its not merely meeting the basic obligations, like following our laws, showing loyalty, and becoming part of our culture. Immigrants owe us value. What do you give us that we wouldnt have otherwise? Are you a hard worker or a uniquely skilled worker? How will you personally make America better for being here? And you dont do that by being a nagging ingrate, a communist sympathizer, or a dirtbag criminal.

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What do immigrants owe us? Thats the question we need to ask whenever the subject of immigration comes up, because thats the question that destroys the Lefts premises. Once you ask it, that resets the paradigm and correctly reframes the issue.

What do immigrants owe us? Well, a hell of a lot more than weve been getting.

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Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.

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