Becoming An American, Or Even Entering The Country Is Not A Right...It Should Be A Rare Privilege

That headline should not be controversial. In fact it should be axiomatic. For most of our history our immigration policy was to allow almost unfettered immigration with a few restrictions. Criminals, the ill and infirm, and then in the 20th century, illiterates, were not allowed into America. After World War I the immigration restrictions recognized country of origin, with the goal of keeping the ethnic character of the country about the same.

And that wasn't all! There were political restrictions created by the various immigration acts of the first part of the century after the assassination of William McKinley, trying to keep out the budding revolutionary fervor in Europe. Anarchists, socialists, simple political radicalism...all were restricted. In fact, America deported immigrants who espoused overt anti-American beliefs.

But in 1990, that changed. The immigration act of that year removed most ideological restrictions, in favor of "security restrictions." And who? The usual suspects! The ACLU and other civil rights organizations, academia, and the left in Congress all agitated for relaxing political restrictions. Why is just as easily answered; keeping the post-Cold War leftists out of America was deemed to be "un-American," and in violation of our free speech rights and other civil liberties. Left unanswered was why foreigners should be afforded the rights protected by the United States Constitution!

Conspicuously absent was any recognition of Islam as a malign force whose sole objective was the subjugation of the world and the creation of a global caliphate. That sounds like a security risk as well as a political risk!

Naturalized but radicalized: Recent terror attacks expose glaring problems with citizenship vetting

As many increasingly argue that the U.S. immigration system is too lenient, four incidents in less than two weeks are being investigated or classified as terrorist attacks linked to Islamist extremism. Most of the alleged perpetrators are naturalized U.S. citizens.

Throughout history, we have expected people who immigrated here to become assimilated to the American culture. And I think over the last 30 years or so, there's been this idea that we no longer need to do that, and this is an example of the consequences of those kinds of bad policies," Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., told Just The News.

"We need to be more nimble when things are changing on the world stage, in the geopolitical realm. We need to be able to say, 'Now, wait a minute, maybe for right now, in light of the fact that we've got a war in the Middle East where we're attempting to take out the state sponsor of terrorism and free the world from the stranglehold that they've had for 47 years, should we maybe be reconsidering what we're doing in terms of bringing people into this country?'"

The core of Islam is the creation of a world government that is antithetical to 250 years of American Exceptionalism, 2,500 years of Western culture, 2,000 years of Christianity, at least 2,000 years of Hinduism, 2,400 years of Buddhism, and 2,800 years of Judaism. It aims to achieve that through violence, and has been remarkably consistent in its application of violence for its entire history.

If Western governments cannot recognize the existential risk of Islam being treated as just another religion, then all is lost. The United Kingdom is almost certainly lost already, with only the faint glimmer of hope in the Reform Party and Restore Britain Party. France is in similar straits, with its National Rally Party being actively targeted with lawfare by the ruling parties.

And...sadly, Islam is not the only existential issue. The majority of the world has no concept of personal freedom and individual autonomy. They are comfortable with authoritarian governments, with the rule of law being an afterthought, with tribalism being the primary driver of social and economic behavior. It is incumbent on America to reject those attitudes and return to a rational immigration policy that raises to the pinnacle a desire to become American, with all that entails.

Immigration law should be a hammer, and if deserving immigrants are denied entry, we will survive. But if the default decision is admission, we will be destroyed.

posted by CBD at 12:00 PM

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