Illegitimacy, Inc

Illegitimacy, Inc.

(How politics, business, and activism subjugate national security)

By R.J. Godlewski

“Finally, the common good requires peace, that is,

the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes

that authority should ensure by morally acceptable means

the security of society and its members. It is the basis

of the right to legitimate personal and collective defense.”

“Fraud and other subterfuges, by which some people

evade the constraints of the law and the prescriptions

of societal obligation, must be firmly condemned because

they are incompatible with the requirements of justice.”

[Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1910, #1916.]

By most accounts, there are some twelve million illegal aliens residing within the United States, or an average of about 240,000 people for each state of the union. Put into perspective, that’s like having a city nearly the size of Las Vegas inhabited by nothing but illegal aliens for every star adorning Old Glory. Now consider that besides flagrantly ignoring our “prescriptions of societal obligation”, many if not most of these people have had to resort to “fraud and other subterfuges” – namely, the use of fake documents, social security cards, driver’s licenses, etc. – just to hide from the authorities. Regardless of your take on the matter, illegal aliens “are incompatible with the requirements of justice” and need to be dealt with, not just appeased with promises of amnesty. To ignore this problem simply invalidates “the stability and security of a just order” for it lessens the value of citizenship.

It is even less reassuring to know that in a region of Pakistan hardly bigger than our state of New Jersey, some 200 terrorist cells are operating with more than twenty plots being hatched against the West. Now compare the size of our borders with New Jersey. Even though a singular individual, say, the infamous Ted Kaczynski -- a.k.a., the Unabomber -- >could (and did) hide from the authorities for eighteen years, one would be hard-pressed to ignore twelve million people running around, some in broad daylight. Therefore, one could only argue that our national leaders do not wish to apprehend these people. Why?

For whatever benefit that someone could propose for their existence within our country, the fact that they arrived here without regard to our immigration laws casts doubt on their responsibility, personal integrity, and honesty. They may have sought a better life, but their end does not justify their means. In a country where communities regularly arrest people for failing to pay simple parking tickets, could we worm our way out of the infraction by saying that we were only seeking a better life? I think not.

Our country emerged as the powerful and wealthy nation that it is because it is a sovereignty that rests on laws – just laws. If we abandoned this precept because of our past negligence, where then do we draw the line? Do we forget all of those past parking tickets? Ignore our tax evaders? Permit the statute of limitations to exist for murderers? If we choose to permit any of these things to happen, then it could be only because our leaders have decided to toss our laws into the trash can of quid pro quo for political benefit. And what, may I ask, is so special about these illegal immigrants that we need to keep them here?

Do American businesses really need low-cost, transient labor? There’s an oft-reported excuse that these illegal immigrants will accept jobs that Americans won’t touch. However, I say that there are Americans who could – and should accept these positions. Our penitentiary systems are overstocked with inmates – a great many of which are non-violent, honest (when compared with the illegal aliens who sneak across our borders) criminals. We can fill most of these jobs with these inmates who could work off some of their debt to society instead of passing time emailing novelists who also write political commentaries (I kid you not – when I receive ‘fan mail’ from prisons, I run their names through offender databases just out of curiosity). If these inmates are safe enough to communicate with the outside, let’s give them the jobs that are held by the illegal immigrants and use their ‘salaries’ to pay off their fines.

And what of the immigrants’ political clout? If they possess any political clout whatsoever, there’s something seriously wrong here. They can’t vote. They can’t run for office. Who, then, would care if we sent them back to where they belong? Activists; that’s who. So? If any citizen goes out of their way to protect or support someone who, by their mere actions, admits to wrongdoing, should we even bother our time with them? We do not permit being an “accessory” for any other crime so why do we allow businesses, non-profit organizations, and even municipalities to aid and abet people who exist here because they have subverted our national integrity?

The United States of America has become the “melting pot” of the world because our forefathers came here to establish a better life. They worked hard at it, much as most of the so-called “undocumented aliens” do now. They put up with difficulties and ethnical hostilities as many of the aliens do now. They were just as ‘loyal’ and ‘patriotic’ as the immigrants demanding citizenship seem to be. There’s just one difference, however. Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents came over here via legal means. Our policies today should reflect this reality. As a nation of immigrants, we need to welcome immigrants. The waiting list for entry into this country is vast and, as an example, for those seeking to marry foreign nationals, hopelessly time consuming and complicated. Yet, for all of the bureaucratic red tape, thousands still venture here via the immigration process and we shouldn’t sacrifice their respect for our national laws by even considering the legalization of those who choose to circumvent everything that America stands for.

Once we decide that America’s borders aren’t worth defending, we decide that nothing is. Once we decide that certain laws aren’t worth upholding, then who decides where we stop? Once we decide that we’ll grant amnesty to some, who else will get a free pass too? Illegal immigration has become BIG business, one stocked full of ancillary vices such as prostitution, drug smuggling, and terrorism. The time has come to break up this monopoly for the “security of society”.