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Forget about the Immigration EASY button. Hit the immigration STOP button!

Other than in the past on a professional basis, when he wrote highly technical articles about IBM's AS/400 computer system, Brian Kelly receives no compensation for his work. Additionally, Kelly has not taken any donations or contributions other than for his US Senate Campaign of 2012. Mr. Kelly has recetly canceled his write-in campaign for the US Senate, and instead he  endorses Tom Smith for US Senator from Pennsylvania v. Robert P. Casey Jr.  If you would like to donate to the closed campaign to help defray costs, feel free to go to www.kellyforussenate.com and click the DONATE button. Your donations are most appreciated.

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Please enjoy the rest of this article.

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Frosty Woolridge wrote a piece titled, “Stop All Immigration Into America.” His point is simply that we have had enough and there is not one reason for one more immigrant, legal or illegal, to be admitted into this country. I agree with Frosty. It seems to me as my friend Bill Kustus would say, “They have become so grabby, they would not mind if they had all the jobs and no Americans were employed.” It is time to disconnect the chute from the back of the immigration truck. Stay on the truck and go to Canada, please! The American bin is overflowing and the overflow is beginning to stink. http://www.rense.com/general69/stopallimmigration.htm is the place to go to see the full Woolridge piece, which we reference below.

Once we get the jobs picture right in this country, we can put together a realistic immigration policy. Millions of legal foreign nationals and over a million new citizens a year is way too much for any country to absorb.

Here are some words from Frosty Woolridge from over five years ago that still do us well today. This should set the tone for the article. We need to hit the STOP button before it is too late. Frosty in my opinion, from what I read, is one of the good guys in the immigration debate. He loves America and Americans, and has this issue well understood, and his advice is sound:

“ While very rich and very white parents [liberal progressives] driving $50,000 SUVs sporting ’Celebrate Diversity’ bumper stickers love the concept of ‘multiculturalism’, they carted their kids off to other area schools that would educate them instead of dumb down their kids to the illegal immigrant classrooms…[they had created]”

“ Can you think of any positive reasons why we need one more immigrant whether legal or illegal? Name a single valued point of adding more foreigners to our country in the 21st century. Give one single merit on how our nation will survive multiple languages? How will we survive violent religions? Since we have 10 million illegal alien Mexicans today, [My estimate is 50 million], how will we survive the next 10 million or even 20 million? Have you seen any good to the growing gridlock, educational crisis, hospital crisis, disease crisis, crime, acid rain, air pollution or loss of quality of life in America? Do we want to add another 100, 200, 300 million people to our country?… ”

“Will more immigrants working at minimum wage be able to pay off our $7.9 trillion debt? [Now it is almost $16 trillion]  Will more insourced immigrants pay off our pending Social Security crisis? Will more immigrants solve California’s $38 billion debt? [Now it is $370 billion]  Will more immigrants with hundreds of languages help our nation remain cohesive? Will more of our working poor be able to survive millions of more immigrants? Will importing millions from those countries sending us immigrants stop their adding 85 million more annually? Give one single good reason for more immigration! Can’t?”

“Let’s shut down America’s borders. Let’s stop all immigration. Let’s give ourselves a break. Let’s take a moratorium. Our citizens deserve it. There is no immigration allowed in China, India, Bangladesh, Russia, Japan, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Turkey and MOST other countries. Are they suffering race riots, car burnings, language crisis and other problems from immigration? Nope!”

But the fact is, the US is beginning to suffer riots by unions and the feeble Occupy group. Occupy would like to be real protesters but life is too good here in America for them to put themselves on the line. I thank the Lord that they are fed so much better than the protesters in Egypt. That is a story for another day. If America emulated other First World countries, we would shut down our borders and take care of our own people, our own country, and our own future, before we disappear from lack of action.

A legal foreign national, aka, a legal alien is not, from a realistic perspective, a person who is in the process of becoming a US citizen. The path to become a US citizen is complex, and rightfully so and it makes demands of the applicant to assure their loyalty to the US and the Constitution.

It also requires them to speak English and to understand our history and our form of government. Some people think it is OK for legal (work visa) and illegal residents of the US to be able to receive the broad brush of amnesty to become instant citizens without expressing any loyalty or learning our language. Those with this opinion lack the fundamental knowledge of our laws. I want all citizens of the US to believe in the US as I do. If they are not willing to take the pledge of allegiance or the Oath of allegiance long before they have the opportunity to swear citizenship, I want them to go home.

We permit about seven million foreign nationals in total to come to America every year on various visas. Thank God some do leave; but not as many as expected. When we exclude those just visiting, but we count illegal aliens, legal visa holders, and foreign students, and we count those who will become permanent residents (green cards) who do not want anything to do with being citizens, and we count permanent residents (green cards) preparing to become US citizens, the total number coming to America every year may be as high as six million and perhaps even more. No country can sustain this much immigration each and every year without collapsing. Are we collapsing?

Over one million candidates to become citizens do become citizens each year. Whereas I once had no problem with people becoming citizens through the naturalization process, I trust Obama’s government so little that I can see them pushing through anybody to become a citizen, who is willing to carry about fifty Vote Obama stickers in their personal surroundings.

I think immigration of all kinds—for work, for citizenship, for reunification, etc. has gone too far, and for too long, so that it is no longer good for America. I have often thought about making a run to Ireland but I am not sure they would want me and that is enough to stop me from making the trek. It is their call, not mine. I have not been invited… yet…

While all of US are concentrating on illegal aliens as “the” problem, the number of legal aliens is multiplying faster than rabbits in a secluded part of the backyard. I regret that those thinking that the airplane called the US has a seat for them all, believe their seat will be coming up shortly. Unfortunately, the US Gravy Train is currently overbooked and it will be so for some time. Please try another airline.

How does a person become a US citizen?

After speaking a few times on the campaign trail about my ideas on legal immigration, I realized that most people have no idea on how complex the US immigrations system of hundreds of visas and regulations actually is. Most Americans do understand that there are so many hurdles for those that are miles away, wishing to be citizens, that they often choose an illegal route such as crossing the border without a passport or coming on a travel visa or passport and choosing not to go home.  Those who come on a non-immigrant work visa, and their work time is up, when they cannot get a green card, often choose to stay in the US illegally. Under the Obama Amnesty Administration, they know nobody will be coming after them so they are comfortable overstaying their visas.  Since there is no enforcement, why go home if you can stay under the radar? This is the formula for how not to become a citizen. Yet, some still love America and its principles enough to come the right way.

To repeat, motivated foreign nationals can simply hop over a fence or figure a legal way to enter the US and become the proverbial illegal alien. Similarly motivated, once legal foreign nationals choose to overstay, and they become illegal aliens, they are as safe as anybody in the US.  These illegal methods of entry may appear to be better options for the foreign national wishing to be a US citizen than going through the full process, but it once made it more difficult to become a citizen. Now, with Obama overriding Congress on amnesty; it may be a good deal. It takes a big time commitment for those willing to stand in the great line for US citizenship? Quite frankly, that is why those foreign nationals who take this route become fine citizens who respect America and our laws.  Those who come in as outlaws stay outlaws!

Please let me say this so that you know how I feel: Both illegal and legal aliens, who we often call foreign nationals, are contributing to the economic plight of normal Americans, who otherwise would be working. Yes, I love both illegal and legal aliens. For now, however, I would love it if many of them would go home for a few years so we Americans can figure out how to be successful again. We will call you when we need you. Thank you for your interest!

So, that all of us have a better understanding of how complicated this system is, let me try to simplify all the complications for you so you do not think that somebody, such as Frosty Woolridge or myself, who say that immigration must stop during periods of recession, are evil people.

Let’s begin by highlighting some way one should not try to become a citizen of the United States. One does not become a citizen of the United States by the following acts:

  1. Being a stowaway on a boat
  2. Hiding in the cargo hold of an airplane
  3. Painting yourself yellow, and hiding on the bottom of a banana truck
  4. Hot air ballooning over the Rio Grande
  5. Being disguised as the back seat of a car
  6. Waiting until Midnight with a coyote and walking across / jumping the fence
  7. Sneaking in with a big crowd of returning Americans from Tijuana
  8. Mounting and then launching a rubber inner tube across the Rio Grande
  9. Hopping the border and taking your chances
  10. Staying and claiming residence after a work / temporary visa expires.
  11. Etc.

Any of the above methods may very well get you into the US or keep you in the US as a resident. However, your classification will be as an illegal alien, which is also known as an illegal foreign national. You can get a job but it probably won’t pay much and you will be looking over your shoulder all of your life.

How can a foreign national become classified as “legal?”

Short of going through the process of citizenship, which can often take ten years or more, there are ways that foreign nationals can not only live in the US as legal residents but can also hold very high paying jobs. Our government is very generous in permitting and in fact encouraging foreign nationals to come to America to take the highest paying American jobs available, even if taking such jobs creates unemployed Americans. .

Let’s define a few terms before we delve deeper into the notion of citizenship and illegality. A foreign national or legal alien can be defined for our purposes as a citizen of a foreign country. There are legal foreign nationals (visa or unexpired passport holders) and illegal foreign nationals (those with no passport or visa).

Coming to America!

To enter the United States legally, A foreign national or alien is generally required to present a passport and valid visa issued by a U.S. Consular Official, unless, of course, they are a citizen of a country eligible for something known as the Visa Waiver Program, or they are a lawful permanent resident (green card) of the U.S. or a citizen of Canada.

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is administered by Homeland Security. It enables eligible citizens or nationals of designated countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less. For example, those eligible from Sweden, Iceland, the UK, and a number of other countries can come to the US without first obtaining a visa of any type. All visitors to the US must have a passport, and those not from VWP countries must also have a visa. If they choose not to go back when their visit (visa) is completed, they go from legal to illegal status. However, current US enforcement is so lax that when somebody overstays, they can typically overstay for as long as they want. Our system is so poorly implemented that we really have no idea how many illegal aliens there are in the country. I say 50 million but this figure may be way low.

There are two general classifications of US visas: non-immigrant visas for temporary stays such as work, and immigrant visas so a person can live and work permanently in the U.S. until their request for citizenship is determined. Temporary visitors to the U.S. must obtain a non-immigrant visa. This type of visa allows you to travel to a U.S. port-of-entry and come in to work. Student visas are similar as long as you are enrolled in a US college or university.

There are a number of reasons why someone would come to the U.S. on a temporary visa. These reasons include tourism, college, business, work, or medical treatment. More and more legal aliens come to the US to obtain temporary work. I am not talking about part-time work but temporary work. Depending on the visa type the temporary terms of the visa may extend to as much as six years, and with legal help, can be extended.

Passport v. Visa

A passport is an official government document that certifies one’s identity and citizenship.  The passport serves two purposes: to regain entry to the country of citizenship (i.e. the United States) and it is a requirement by many countries to gain entry to the country you are visiting. The US officially insists that visitors using any type of visa also have a passport.

Clearly the de-facto amnesty of President Obama for those foreign nationals who choose to have neither visa nor passport, makes this rule seem awful silly, doesn’t it? Why have a rule if you don’t enforce it. President Obama is violating the Constitution by not enforcing immigration laws or any laws passed by Congress and signed into law by any President.

Passports are issued to you by your own country to be used as proof of identity and citizenship, when you are visiting other countries. A visa is usually, in effect, a permit to enter a country and it is issued by the country you plan to visit. There are over 270 countries that offer travel visas and literally thousands of different types of visas available based upon country, type of visit, and length of visit.

A travel visa therefore is also an official government document. It temporarily authorizes you to be in the country that you are visiting.  Many countries require a visa to gain entry in addition to the passport. The visa usually is in the form of a stamp or sticker placed within a “blank” page of the passport. When there is not notion of an issue such as terrorism associated with an individual, visas are far more easy to achieve.

A visa is gained from visiting the embassy or consulate of the country you plan to visit. You can get it at an embassy before hand or sometimes you can get the visa upon arrival. The visa specifies the basis on which you are allowed to be in the country (e.g. as a tourist, student, to work etc). It also specifies how long you are allowed to stay.

To see the number of visa types available and to learn a book’s worth of official and unofficial doctrine about visa types and their purposes, type “US visa types,” into your browser and you will be able to find detailed descriptions of the hundreds of visa types offered by the US State Department for foreign nationals coming to America for all purposes.

The last year about which I was able to gain statistics was 2008, in which the Department of State issued United States Visas to 6.6 million foreign nationals visiting the United States and to 470 thousand immigrants. Some come to visit. Some come to work for six or more years, some come to work short periods. Considering that the 50 or so friendly countries like the European countries and others that are on the Visa Waiver program do not require visas for 90 day trips to the US, I was surprised, but then not surprised at how high the number of visas actually is. Please note that while these 6.6 million visa holders were in the US, they would be classified as legal foreign nationals or legal aliens. I would expect the number in 2012 to be substantially higher than 6.6 million. Ironically, if 50 of our friendliest nations do not need visas, and those not so friendly do need visas, why are there almost seven million given by the US embassies to foreign nationals. Think about it, please!

Immigrant / non immigrant US Visas

If a foreign national’s objective is not to be a US citizen, but they want to be a student or they want to work or they want to travel or help out in the US, there is a non-immigrant visa designed for them. Without having read all of the particulars of all of the US visa types, I would be surprised if there were one situation for which bureaucrats have not created a unique visa type to handle. When your objective is to achieve entry into the US for purposes other than citizenship, the broad classification of such a visa type is officially non-immigrant.

If a foreign national’s objective is to live permanently in the U.S., an immigrant visa is required. To get an immigrant visa, a foreign national must first petition the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to permit the receiver to apply for an immigrant visa. When the visa application is approved, the paperwork is forwarded to the National Visa Center for processing. The National Visa Center’s role in the process is to provide instructions regarding forms, fees and other required documents to complete the visa application. It also collects immigrant visa application forms, affidavit of support forms, and fee payments for US Embassies and US Consulates. Lawyers help foreign nationals all the time and don’t be surprised if they outfox immigration officials.

The major immigrant US visa categories include:

Only after a foreign national is granted permanent residence (green card), do they have the right to apply for US citizenship. Some are happy merely to have gained the right to permanent residence and choose not to go for citizenship. The next step after permanent residence (green cards) is optional citizenship. It is optional for the beseecher and the beseeched. Not all green card holders apply for citizenship, yet they are still permanent residents. Not all applicants are approved.

If you were not born a citizen, you may be able to become one through naturalization. Naturalization is the way immigrants become citizens of the United States. Citizenship is a lifetime benefit bestowed upon you if you successfully complete the program and take the oath.  Some of us think that it is not proper that an individual, who has done none of the prerequisite loyalty to the US work, becomes a citizen because the “Obama citizen wand,” was active that day and they lucked out under the spirit of de-facto amnesty.

As a citizen of the United States, a person gets unique rights and privileges which include the right to vote, having a U.S. passport, the U.S. government’s protection when abroad and the right to petition for green cards for your children and all close relatives. It is a big deal. Permanent residents do not have such rights. Us Citizens cannot be deported or lose their citizenship even if they commit a crime or choose to live elsewhere in the world. There are two ways that I have noticed in which a foreign national who successfully completed this process can lose citizenship. These are as follows:

Who is eligible to become a citizen of the US?

You may become a U.S. citizen through one of the following methods:

Become a Citizen by Birth

Birth is fairly self explanatory.  If a child is born in the USA, the child is automatically a legal citizen. It is as simple as that. Whether either of a child’s parents is born in the US does not matter as of today. The baby is automatically a US citizen. Roy Beck of www.numbersusa.com offers some opinion on the fairness of such a deal to Americans:

“Maternity tourism is just the beginning of the silliness of birthright citizenship that goes to the babies of foreign students, temporary foreign workers, international travelers—and the millions who break the law to criminally enter this country…

“All told, federal law (not the Constitution) gives citizenship to an estimated minimum 400,000 babies each year who don’t have even one parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent legal immigrant. This is a huge impediment to efforts to stabilize U.S. population to allow for environmental sustainability. And it is a great incentive for more illegal immigration.”

Even without the baby, President Obama’s recent “amnesty-like” regulations permit one or both parents to stay in the country. Without concern for deportation, foreign national families now have the opportunity to become de-facto permanent residents when they simply choose not to go home. The law however, demands that the mother and father be deported. Obama chooses not to enforce the law. When the law was enforced before the Obama Administration, the mom and dad had the option of taking the child with them upon deportation or they could keep the child in America by arranging legal guardianship for their citizen child.

Become a Citizen via Naturalization

To become a US citizen through Naturalization, you must meet these requirements:

Additional details on above points:

The following information is brought forth from the perspective that the mythical “you” is the applicant. As you can see in the list, to become a naturalized US citizen, you must meet several general requirements including age, residence, presence, moral character, English language, U.S. history, etc. The following shows additional detail to the list. It is taken from the last revision of the Guide to Naturalization.

Before you can apply for Naturalization, you must be eighteen years of age or older, and be a permanent resident of the US and be in possession of a Green Card. You must also be a resident for five years, with no single absence from the US of more than one year. Absence of more than 6 months may be enough to warrant the clock to start again for counting continuous residence. This means that you must have been physically present in the US for at least half of the last 5 years (30 months) and you must have held legal residence within a state or district for at least 3 months.

Additionally, you must be a person of good moral character and not have been convicted of crimes such as aggravated felony, drug related, gambling offenses, prostitution, etc. These crimes will most likely disqualify you as an applicant.

You must be able to read, write, speak and understand basic English and you must have a basic knowledge of US history and government. There are test questions that you must pass addressing all areas of study. You must show that you understand and are willing to abide by the Constitution of the US.

One of the most solemn parts of the naturalization process is the Oath of Allegiance. Basically, by means of this oath, the applicant for citizenship does a lot of things that an illegal foreign national, who crosses the border, or a legal alien, who comes in on a work visa, does not have to do. Citizenship is a privilege and it should not come lightly and it surely should not be given carte-blanch as this Administration does with its de-facto amnesty programs. How do we know border hoppers especially have America’s best interests at heart? The citizenship process clearly helps US understand that the person who toils the ten years or so to become a citizen and puts themselves through this process, really wants to be an American. I like those kinds of new Americans. Don’t you?

By taking the oath of allegiance, a candidate swears to support the Constitution and to obey the laws of the U.S.; and to renounce any foreign allegiance and/or foreign title; and also to bear arms for the Armed Forces of the U.S. or perform services for the government of the U.S. when required. There are certain exceptional circumstances in which the candidate establishes that they are opposed to any type of service in armed forces based on religious grounds. In these circumstances, the USCIS often permits these applicants to take a modified oath.  The oath of allegiance in its entirety is printed below. Think of a person becoming a citizen under these terms vs. one that hops a border fence, participates in anti-US activity; never swears allegiance to the US, and then by presidential regulations is granted amnesty. This oath sure sounds good.

Having discussed the idea of how foreign nationals gain access to the US to visit, to live, and to work, please let me repeat the theme of this op-ed: “Stop All Immigration Into America!” Yes, I borrowed the title from Frosty Woolridge, but it is surely my message. America cannot afford a zillion more immigrants. As much as I like new American citizens, a million a year is way too many. Let’s get our house in order and proceed from there.   Let’s close this with the citizen candidate’s oath of allegiance, knowing this is the type of person we want in America in reasonable numbers.

The oath of allegiance is: “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

Let’s give this a hearty, “Amen!”

Brian Kelly is a business owner and former assistant professor at Marywood University; he and his wife live in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Kelly is running for Senate in his state and believes limited government brings liberty and freedom.

Tagged as: america, amnesty, brian kelly, citizenship, immigration, Jobs, visas

 

About Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly is a business owner and former assistant professor at Marywood University; he and his wife, Pat live in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Kelly ran for COngress and for the US Senate in his state and he believes limited government brings liberty and freedom. Brian's 48th book is titled, Saving America, The How-To Book. It is available at www.checkoutking.com and www.itjungle.com.

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