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Immigration is not a thorny issue, but Illegal immigration is.
If we’re honest, it's not because of Trump, but because of Joe Biden. He made this mess allowing millions in who were unvetted and even unvaccinated when we had to be. The result is what we see today.
Not too long ago, we had a chance to visit Switzerland on a river cruise. My wife is Swiss. Her grandparents legally emigrated through Ellis Island, saved money to do it and followed all the rules. They could not get any government benefits at all and had to be totally financially self-sufficient, have a sponsor, be employed and medically cleared to enter the U.S.
And they, along with millions of others, did that.
While we were there, we had dinner with a young man who was not Swiss, but was legally working in Switzerland. He was working on becoming Swiss, but was expected to respect Swiss culture and appreciate his opportunity if he wanted to stay.
The process, he said, was stringent and included learning to speak Swiss within the five years or he could be removed. After five years, if he hadn’t met the requirements, he had to reapply and write a letter explaining why not, with no guarantee he could stay regardless of how nice he is.
Apparently, in Switzerland, they expect people asking to come there to follow rules, and it doesn’t include getting free benefits, making demands, waving foreign flags or behaving badly.
In the USA, expecting that is considered hate.
We’ve been given two choices: embrace everybody from everywhere for any reason without vetting them, or be a hater. We can’t be for legal immigration and against illegal immigration, because that’s hate, too. Pretty much all disagreement is considered hate.
But why is that?
It's not our overrun borders the past four years, not the millions of unvetted from all kinds of countries and many of them not good people. It's not crime, or the costs we can’t afford for benefits they are not supposed to receive. It’s just Trump. And hate. With a dose of selfishness.
Yes, that’s it. Trump, hate, and selfishness. And maybe concern for safety — but that’s all it is.
And going broke. Trump, hate, selfishness, public safety and we’re broke.
But mostly it's just hate.
Recently, the much maligned county ordinance was passed declaring Lewis County a non-sanctuary county in an obviously sanctuary state. And the world ended. But what was the practical result of this declaration? Nothing, really. The commissioners declared we will follow state law — that’s it. Our sheriff and prosecutor have remained silent about any adverse impact to anyone who may be here illegally, or unscrupulous employers who may hire them or take advantage of their status to pay less than required.
So we declared we will do what we have been doing regarding illegal immigration, which is nothing. At least nothing different.
Perhaps the only practical impact, besides the loss of federal funds if we didn’t pass it, is the removal from a list that might draw the attention of ICE for enforcement. Maybe those howling the loudest about this are making a mistake drawing so much attention to it?
But the thing that stuck out to me in The Chronicle story was Centralia City Councilor Adrianna Garibay’s admission that she came here illegally. It was never clear in the most recent reporting that she had at sometime taken steps and became a legal resident, but she did, and good for her. But that's not the way it is supposed to work. Others wait their turn wanting the same thing — a better life.
Congress passed immigration laws. They could change immigration laws, but they didn’t, and people came ignoring immigration laws at their own peril.
The risk of deportation was always there, but now it's being enforced, and had it been all along, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are today.
That’s not hate. It's just a fact.
John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@gmail.com.
