Mr. President, What Country are You President of?

By: Dale Weckbacher

This week President Obama had the President of Mexico at the White House. Of course the hot topic of conversation was the Arizona immigration bill. The statement issued by The President in the Rose Garden was troubling and begs the question, Mr. President, what country are you president of?

Mr. Obama’s statement is as follows:
“We also discussed the new law in Arizona, which is a misdirected effort — a misdirected expression of frustration over our broken immigration system, and which has raised concerns in both our countries…
And I want everyone, American and Mexican, to know my administration is taking a very close look at the Arizona law. We’re examining any implications, especially for civil rights. Because in the United States of America, no law-abiding person — be they an American citizen, a legal immigrant, or a visitor or tourist from Mexico — should ever be subject to suspicion simply because of what they look like” (The Heritage Foundation, 2010).

It appears from this statement that President Obama is more interested in not violating the “rights” of individuals entering the United States illegally then protecting the people of Arizona. I live in Arizona and the last time I checked, Arizona is part of the United States. After all, I do recall filing a U.S. tax form this year.

Mr. Obama, the voters elected you President of the United States, not Mexico or the world. When you were sworn into office you promised to uphold the constitution of the United States, which includes protecting its citizens.

Phoenix Arizona is the capital of Arizona. Unfortunately, it is also the kidnapping capital of the U.S. In my own neighborhood, I cannot go to the public park behind my house without fearing for my safety. This is because my skin is not dark enough. I have no problem with anyone using the park no matter what color their skin is so it seems to me that the racism is not with me but others. The Reverend Martin Luther King’s dream was that people be judged by their character and not the color of their skin.

Those of us who favor the Arizona immigration bill are not being racist, we are only interested in the safety of our families. You are right in your statement that our immigration system is broken but the answer is not in catering to those who enter this country illegally. The goal of any countries immigration system is not to close the door on anyone who wants to enter the country but to allow the country to know who is coming into the country in order to protect the country’s citizens.

What is broken about our immigration system is that it takes an excessively long time to enter this country legally and it is extremely expensive. With today’s technology, it should be possible for us to run a background check on individuals wanting to enter this country in a rather short time-period. After successfully passing the background check, we can issue either a work-permit or a student visa so they can enter this country legally.

For those already in the country illegally, give them the opportunity to turn themselves in during a 60-day grace period and have a background check run. Upon passing the background check, they will be issued the proper documentation and become legal. They can then begin the process of becoming a citizen if they desire or they can re-apply for a work-permit of student visa every two years. Failure to do this during the grace period will result in deportation.

This will root out those in the country illegally who intend harm to our citizens since the last thing they will want to do is have a background check run. In fact, most of these people will most likely go home during the grace period rather than risk deportation leaving us with only those seeking a better life in this country.

Mr. President, rather than standing up before the cameras and demeaning the citizens of one of the states you are president of, take the initiative and begin serious immigration reform. Reform designed to insure the safety of the citizens you govern and not pander to the desires of some foreign dignitary visiting the White House.


References:
The Heritage Foundation. (2010). The Foundry. Retrieved from http://blog.heritage.org/2010/05/21/morning-bell-raising-arizonas-defense/