Practical solution to immigration problem
In order for Congress to come up with a viable solution on immigration, it must use proper phrasing. Anyone coming to this country illegally cannot be called an immigrant. They are trespassing on sovereign soil. It is an insult to the millions of people who came here legally, learned our language and integrated into society to be lumped in with these interlopers.
For all the immigrants who came over the past 150 years, their greatest joy was to be able to vote in their new country’s election, as was iterated to me by my grandfather, who immigrated from Italy in 1898. It was his proudest moment.
DACA became policy, which encouraged people to trespass and bring their children so they could live and work in the U.S. Their hopes were to wait till Congress comes up with the answer, which Democrats see as a voting bloc for the future.
Here is the practical solution: grant permanent status, without voting rights. They do not deserve the right of vote because they broke the law in coming. We are a nation of laws, and anyone who violates the law rescinds his or her right to vote.
We need to take politics out of this situation and satisfy both sides in this divided issue.
We must end chain migration and the lottery system and go to a merit-based policy, where those who wish to immigrate speak English and have a job and want to be Americans.
Joe Ondo
Hilton Head Island
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This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Practical solution to immigration problem."