The Immigration Bill before the U.S. Congress is 125,000 words long. I deeply wish our parliament was set up to produce law that our citizens could actually read through.
Let me instead step back and talk about a principle, something I fear is too-frequently overlooked in discussion of immigration: diversity gives us strength. Yes, millions of immigrants are currently embarrassing our legal system, making it to be a sham. As we fix this situation, through some combination of enforcement and law changes, I hope we remember that the goal should be to have lots of the world coming to join us, not to put up walls and live like hermits.
We should be proud, in America, that our country is so diverse. Other countries are more xenophobic, more closed in. In France, their immigrants riot all the time. India and Pakistan should have been one country, but their Hindus and Muslims could not live together. Iraq might well follow in their footsteps, dividing into Shea and Sunni portions. All around the world you see countries divided by culture clashes. They cannot get along even inside their own borders.
Not so in America. We are all immigrants here, and immigration has continued since the founding of the country. It is not even particularly high nowadays. The peak was a third higher than now, back in 1890.
There are a number of strengths that come from this diversity. Just as cross-breed animals are healthier than purebreds, our people are stronger when we inherit from a number of cultures. Here are some specific ways:
I could go on, but let me stop there and allow you to think on it yourself. The practical problems of dealing with foreigners are there, but they seem to me little harder than the practical problems of those born natively. I hope we try. Diversity breeds strength, and tolerance breeds friends. We could use both.