Townhall.com
Derek Hunter
March 18, 2018

There is no doubt that I am lucky. I’m certainly not rich (though not for lack of trying), but I was born into a loving family, have a great wife and daughter, get to write for a living, and I was born an American. Over time I’ve grown to appreciate each of those things, as happens in life, more than I did when I was younger. But one of them has seen its value be diminished significantly – the being an American part.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the United States, it’s the most amazing of all human experiments and is responsible for more good in the modern world than anything else, by a longshot. But in recent years actually being an American is being devalued. Not by some external force or it being overtaken by being a citizen of some other country. No, it’s been cheapened by the Democratic Party’s lust for power.

As the Democratic Party has lurched further and further to the left, they’ve lost the support of what used to be a significant portion of their base – middle-class, blue-collar Americans. Appealing mostly to wealthy coastal elites and victims of generational poverty inflicted at the hands of government “generosity,” there simply aren’t enough people willing to vote the way these leftists want them to vote to gain what they ultimately want: a permanent grip on the levers of power.

Rather than take a long look in the mirror and rethink their priorities to regain lost ground, they’ve opted for a different path. That which they can’t get through the electoral process, they will try to obtain through the courts. The irony of people who routinely chant “this is what democracy looks like” at their sparsely attended protests, and with “democratic” being in their name, they will spare no expense to subvert the democratic process.

With President Donald Trump filling court vacancies, and George W. Bush before him, the windows for those opportunities, while still open, will be more closed than they used to be as more conservatives take seats on the bench. That leaves the Democratic Party with fewer options to advance their agenda.

In need of an alternative pathway, they turned to race and immigration. Race has been used as a wedge to divide Americans into tribes for a long time by Democrats and helped them corner the market on the black vote without ever having to deliver on promises. Fear is a hell of a motivator.

But the black vote, outside of larger cities, isn’t enough to win enough elections. The Hispanic vote was just sitting there, ripe and ready to be picked.

Using the same tactics of fear and racial identity, the left started pitching Hispanics on the idea that there was a faceless force working against them, that the concepts of individual liberty and the free market were a part of that force, and the Democratic Party was the only thing holding off that force.

It’s a diabolical plan because it absolves the target of it of any and all responsibility for the troubles in their life. You didn’t get a job not because someone else was more qualified, you didn’t get it because of racism. Same reason you were fired. Any setback could easily be attributed to this “systemic” force. And it’s much less damaging to the psyche to believe setbacks were beyond your control than the result of your actions and choices.

The Hispanic vote began to solidify behind the Democrats, but not enough to make the needed difference. Republican candidates still received too many Hispanic votes for Democrats to fully, two-fisted grab ahold of the levers of power.

Democrats, impatient, simply decided to create them.

With millions of illegal aliens in the country, this large pool of potential voters for Democrats was only prevented from pushing them over the finish line by a lack of citizenship. So that, and for that reason only, is what they’ve set out to do.

Democrats have systemically removed or ignored punishments for entering the country illegally, for working illegally, for stealing identities to work. They’ve turned the perpetrators into victims. To hear Democrats talk about illegal immigrants you’d think they were the greatest human being ever birthed – hard working, family loving people who want nothing more than to make a living.

While some obviously are, many are not. Our prisons are full of illegal alien felons. Schools are overrun with non-English speaking students who cost significantly more to educate, therefore costing taxpayers money and American students limited resources.

We are told that somehow, magically, these low-skilled illegals who can’t speak the language are a major net-positive to the economy; that they pay billions in taxes while living in poverty with no ability to legally work in the country. And we’re told to question this mystery is racist.

While our federal elected officials have thus far resisted demands for “action,” state and local officials, as well as some courts, have found new and creative ways to subvert the rule of law to protect illegal aliens from deportation. Moreover, Democratic politicians across the country have been incentivizing them to stay and more to come. State issued drivers licenses, in state tuition, welfare benefits, encouraging law enforcement and local prosecutors to drop or lower charges to protect against deportation are but a few of the benefits heaped upon people whose presence in the country is a violation of the law. Now, California has appointed an illegal alien to a statewide government job. Is that a “job Americans won’t do” now, too?

Honestly, why would anyone follow our immigration laws at this point? The legal process can take years, so why not just show up or overstay a visa? That’s where the red carpet is rolled out.

Once citizenship is granted, and that’s the ultimate goal, the groundwork of bribes and fear will be as hardened as a sidewalk. Voter registration forms will be stapled to their paperwork, and it’s game over.

So the question is this: what’s the value of citizenship anymore? If it’s given out like candy on Halloween, what makes being an American special? The answer, sadly, is that value is diminished. And if Democrats get their way, it will be devalued even more. Because it was never simply being an American that was special, it’s America itself that made it so. And it’s America itself that that is under assault.

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I've been thinking. This illegal immigrant thing has a lot of positives to it. I am considering moving to Mexico and becoming an illegal.

Can't wait to have the red carpet rolled out for me. I've always thought it be nice to be part of the protected class. What you only stole $400 worth of stuff let's just let you go so there is no trouble with the Federales. Want to vote? I think they are working on it there right? Mexican licenses for illegals is the first step. Next my understanding is they are working as hard as possible to abolish abolish their racist voter ID cards in Mexico, for now since Mexico requires ID to vote, I'll just have to steal some Mexicans ID to vote, might as well get a loan or two and use his information to file taxes with. I'm sure it's just a slap on the wrists for identity theft and lying on federal documents especially since the fraud was just to feed my poor starving children.

Ahhh, then there's the sweet, sweet Mexican medical care and education I'll get for free I'm sure. Plus the food assistance, the Mexican people wouldn't want me to starve would they?

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These people are diminishing what it means to be an American. Citizenship is earned, it's not free. It starts with a few forms and some money, but ends with a plegede. In the middle there's a lot of additional forms, hard work, money, procedures. I'll just focus on the last part, the oath.

If these people want to come here, assimilate, and live by that oath, fine, welcome. If they want to come here illegally, suck off the country, and not respect the flag, the people, the laws, the traditions, and the social norms. GTFO of my country NOW!

quote:

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.

This article is exactly why I am extremely anti illegal immigrant. I do not want fundamental change, we saw eight years of that, it sucked. Granting a path to citizenship for the illegals is they way to fast track the US to becoming a third world country.

This is one of the biggest theaters of the war, do not loose this, at all costs. If we do its all over for the American way of life.

Oath to become US citizen, I wish we had to make some birthright citizens take it too.

If any person from anywhere can come and go and vote as often as they please without any ID, what's the value of voting? It becomes a worthless futile gesture. Why can't everyone in the world have a say, just pull up the website and vote (Democrat, of course). The left is on a race to the bottom, with record lows for corruption and stupidity.

excellent question

as an immigrant, I'm not sure I have an answer yet but

I know what it was when I moved here, but now I'm not sure it would be the same answer

I am thinking it is still very valuable. The USA is still one of the best places in the world to live and raise a family. I believe it is still the very best place. I can not think of anywhere I would prefer to live.

Hey, as a Canadian, I would love a US citizenship.

It's damn next to impossible.
Friend of mine lived in Florida legally for years, her mom opened a business and employed people and yet still it was impossible for them to get citizenship after many years.

I don't know anymore. Acquaintances of ours, he is retired UK LE, ran a successful business in the US, built a home, paid taxes,and lived here for years on some sort of a business visa. They retired, and IIRC, they had to be out of the US in something like 6 months. I know of another case in which a woman came to the US legally from Australia. She worked in the office at the local PD. After being here for several years, she discovered a clerical error in her original paperwork. She went down to the big city, contacted the Feds. advised them of the error and that she wanted to get it corrected. Instead, she said they detained her, and put her in a motel for the night with a guard outside the door, while the powers that be decided if they were going to deport her. She got it squared away somehow, because she was back to work at the PD afterwards. I admit I have some difficulty understanding why it is apparently so easy to kick out people who would seem to be a benefit to this country, and so difficult to deport many others who entered illegally, may have reentered illegally multiple times, may have been charged with, or actually convicted of crimes, or at best are a net drain on resources...... Suppose it could have anything to do with a few million potential new voters likely to vote for a particular political party?