When Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign last year and made immigration its centerpiece, he was derided by not only liberals and the national media but also by the Republican Establishment. Yet he did not capitulate, and today, thanks to his stance, millions of Americans are increasingly realizing the problems and dangers of mass immigration. It is about time.
It is an absolute fallacy that if someone is against mass immigration then he must be a xenophobe or a racist. For the record, I am an immigrant and a naturalized American (I also happen to be brown-skinned) — yet I am against mass immigration. Such a stance is realistic — not racist. Let me explain.
First, what is mass immigration? Simply put, it is what we have today — a system that legally admits millions of immigrants without their undergoing any serious test of their ability to assimilate into mainstream American culture, while the same system also turns a blind eye to millions of illegal aliens.
The legal immigration numbers alone are overwhelming enough. On average, one million immigrants are admitted legally every year. For instance, in 2014 (the latest year for which data are available), 1,016,518 immigrants were given permanent residence (“green cards”), over 900,000 of whom came from third world countries. Of that million-plus total, only 151,596 were admitted due to their skills. Such ratios were not unique to 2014 — they have been the norm for two decades. In other words, the vast majority of even legal immigrants come from third world countries and without valuable skills but are admitted merely because of family relationships or as refugees.
So, why do I, an immigrant myself, oppose such mass immigration? To put it bluntly, I do not want to see America transformed into the same third world morass that I left many years ago.
In fact, any intelligent person who strolls through a mall even in a medium-sized American city and hears the cacophony of foreign tongues can see prima facie evidence of the absence of assimilation. And of course there is the invariably annoying “Press 1 for English …” when you call a customer service department. For definitive evidence of non-assimilation, you need only to walk into a DMV and an election office, and see driver license tests in multiple foreign languages and voter registration forms in several foreign languages.
Experiences such as the foregoing have caused incremental resentment among Americans, who feel their country is inundated by foreigners who have no respect for, or loyalty to, America. And they are right — mass immigration has brought in people who despise American culture and laws. From Islamic immigrants who engage in terrorism, to illegal-alien gang members from south-of-the-border who commit violent crimes, Americans have seen enough evidence of how utterly dysfunctional our immigration policy has become.
One of Trump’s proposals is an ideological test for prospective immigrants, to ensure they are capable of assimilating themselves to the Western culture. This is long past due. After all, admission into America is a privilege — not a right.
For too long, America’s immigration policy has been shaped by the liberal philosophy of multiculturalism — the idea that no culture is superior to another. It is an idea that is utterly naive and wholly at odds with reality. In fact, it is precisely because Western culture is superior that immigrants come here in the first place, for they know their archaic native cultures do not provide the opportunities they seek in life. Yet, once here, millions of these immigrants make no attempt to assimilate into mainstream America, thanks to government multicultural programs that permanently cater to them in their native languages.
An ideological test at the outset for legal immigrants, coupled with the elimination of government multicultural programs, would make immigration a safe tradition that Americans could proudly uphold once again.
But, above all, we need strict enforcement against illegal immigrants. No one will respect our legal immigration system as long as we allow millions of illegal immigrants to roam free. And Trump, despite all his faults and foibles, deserves much praise for spotlighting this problem.
However, immigration is not the only issue that has induced me to support Trump. The other issue is trade. His tough stance against naive free-trade policies — and his unapologetic promise to cancel them if they could not be re-negotiated — is music to the ears of anyone working in the American manufacturing sector, as I am.
As an engineer in the manufacturing sector, I have daily interactions with blue-collar workers. In my twenty years in manufacturing, never before have I seen so many blue-collar workers so supportive of a Republican candidate as they are of Trump. These workers know firsthand the devastating job losses caused by naive free-trade policies. (White-collar workers are not immune, either. Eleven years ago I myself was laid off due to outsourcing to China. I quickly found another job, but millions of my fellow Americans are not so lucky.)
No one knows if Trump will keep his promises if elected. But at least he will have been the only candidate in this election to have the guts to speak honestly and bluntly about America’s problems. And for that alone I will gladly vote for him.
Ian de Silva is an engineer with deep interests in history and politics.Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
