Jose Antonio Vargas Thinks Immigration Is a Bipartisan Mess

If they could, how many Filipino nationals would pack up and leave to come here if they could? Or from any other country in the world for that matter. Simply, we can not possibly accommodate all and anyone who desires to live here in the US. There are too many people in the world today and too few countries that are actually livable, (mostly Westernized ones). As Europe can not take in everyone from Africa and the Middle East, we can not absorb 100's of millions from South America, Asia and elsewhere. Our finances, natural resources, housing, education, etc. are not infinite. And not for anyone who can just cross over our borders upon two feet. Consider yourself very fortunate so far Mr. Vargas. Don't push your luck.

I saw Mr Vargas on TV and was not impressed. Mr Vargas has some nerve to question what right native born Americans have to be in the country they were born in. If I didn't know better I would think that this is a right wing propaganda piece - what we call the looney left in the UK. I am not anti-immigrant. I strongly support legal immigration and am married to a legal immigrant. And I have a lot of sympathy for people who risk their lives to come to the US for a better life for themselves and their families. But, I'm sorry, there is no "right" of a foreign national to immigrate to the US or any other country. The US, like any other country, is entitled to enforce its immigration laws.

In ancient times, the size of a community’s population was kept in check by such factors as disease and environmental resources. Parents had many children in the hope that a few would survive. Since the last century, sanitation and modern medicine have allowed many more children to survive so it has not been necessary to give birth to so many. None-the-less, the cultures in some countries continued to encourage people to give birth to just as many children as before. The result is that these countries have become so densely populated that they do not have enough resources for everyone. The main reason Central Americans are coming here is that their cultures continued to encourage parents to have many children with the result that their resources are too few per person. Central Americans are coming here to escaper poverty. The Philippines is also overpopulated. The U.S. no longer has land to be cultivated. Much of the west is arid. Westerners are already depleting rivers and aquifers. As in other countries, resources in the U.S. are limited. In addition, our economy has been and continues to be dramatically changed by automation and out-sourcing. Unlike a century ago, we no longer have a plethora of unskilled or low skilled jobs that our own citizens cannot fill. We no longer have the resources or the jobs for the excess populations of other countries.

“But for my fellow Americans who happened to be born here - what have they done to earn their citizenship?” This smug man who believes he is better than Americans is not an American and hopefully will never get citizenship. Illegal immigrants cost Americans 120 billion a year and, no, what they give back in taxes does not come close to this amount.

Despite Mr. Vargas's obvious talent and drive, his incessant advocacy for illegal immigration is offensive. It's time to send the message that illegal immigration is not okay and good way to do that would be to deport Mr. Vargas back to the Philippines.

It’s hard to figure out for whom Mr. Vargas has the greatest contempt – the immigration laws he gleefully dismisses (“I don’t have the right papers to be here” as if it’s a mere clerical error) or his “fellow Americans” whom he smugly lectures as unthinking and undeserving (“what have you done to earn … citizenship?”) Furiously clinging to everything this country has to offer even as he holds his nose about joining it.

Proof that we're the Land of Opportunity: You can violate the law, then make yourself a celebrity victim and successful author by writing about it.

Why hasn't this fellow been deported? We may not be able to deport 11-22 million people but we can certainly deport one arrogant confused solipsist who doen't understand that the United States is not his country. The whole concept of citizenship means that if you're born here you're automatically a citizen. It's the concept of family writ large. You can't bum rush someone else's nation or family and claim rights of residence. Vargas should be permanently ejected.

"But for my fellow Americans who happened to be born here — what have they done to earn their citizenship?" followed the laws of this country.

You know, I read this column with a resolutely open mind. But at end, this is what I find myself wanting to say to Mr. Vargas: Grow up! We are a nation of laws, not a nation of chirpy, please-somebody-help-me sentimentality. Using your narrow, dead-end, overly-simplified argument, we we should do away with immigration laws altogether, allowing anybody who wants to enter and remain, to do so. Or did you just think we should look the other way for people who already are here illegally, including yourself? Where is the line drawn and who draws it?

In the case of many dreamers, it would be "cruel and unusual punishment" to return those who have totally assimilated especially in terms of language to a country where they might not speak the language. The issues of over-population. war, holocaust an gangs, global warming all need to be considered in tandem with the issue of immigration. Destinations of immigrants might also be considered. (Why are the children detained at the Texas border housed in one of the most expensive cities in the USA?? ) Many towns in the USA have had their populations drop dramatically--leaving affordable, empty housing. (Addressing the problem of no jobs here since the CEOs of American companies prefer to manufacture abroad -- by the way in some ways lessening pollution -- and Amazon has decided to replace local stores (maybe there should be an Amazon tax?). BTW most Americans I know think it laudable to pay as little tax as possible, including our prez apparently!!! (And no one is even calling for the luxury tax to be put back or corporations to pay tax or ... never mind. Shouldn't taxes be paid before charitable contributions are made?? if it is to actually be charity. Render onto Caesar and all that... Off topic!!)

Its hilarious when people say Medicaid and other programs AREN'T used by illegals. Taxpayers float the hospital bill for illegals who give birth here. It's simply a fact. When my wife and I had children, I was presented a significant bill each time. I should have claimed I was from somewhere else.

"They actually think what happens is you go to City Hall, you fill out a form, then poof, you’re an American — you can even get welfare!” Many of the undocumented already receive welfare for the working poor. The IRS wants everyone to pay taxes so it is willing to assign an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to anyone who applies for one. The undocumented can use their ITIN numbers to pay payroll taxes, state that they do not earn enough to pay any income taxes, and then request tax “credits". (It is not necessary to pay income taxes to receive tax "credits”.) The IRS has been paying tax “credits" to the undocumented in the form of cash hand-outs. Back in 2010, the Inspector General of the Treasury Department discovered that, under the Child Tax Credit, the IRS was paying $4.2 billion/year to the undocumented. He told the IRS that these payments were helping to lure the undocumented to the U.S., but the IRS refused to stop making the payments. It claimed it lacked the jurisdiction to determine who was in the country legally. ( See an Eyewitness News Investigation called "Part one: 13 Investigates IRS tax loophole” on youtube <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gwWaKkV6RM&gt;.) Some of the undocumented have claimed another "credit” - the Earned Income Tax Credit. Both the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit are welfare payments to supplement the wages of the working poor.

You wrote that even mainstream journalists get basic facts wrong about immigration. What do you think they get wrong most often? That there’s a process for people like me to legalize ourselves. They actually think what happens is you go to City Hall, you fill out a form, then poof, you’re an American — you can even get welfare! That’s the understanding. It’s staggering. ------------------Oh, but there are a couple of ways for illegal aliens such as yourself who enter on visas to legalize. Marriage to a US citizen is one of them. The other is to return to your home country before age 18 1/2 and apply for a visa without facing the bar to re-entry. Of course, you could have come legally in the first place, through your grandparents' sponsorship of your mother. It would have taken time and effort, but hey, you're special, aren't you? And just how DID your grandparents get legal status? Through the 1986 amnesty? If they can't be bothered to follow the law after we forgive them once for breaking it, more fool us if we legalize more illegal aliens.

There are hundreds of millions of people from all over the world who would like to come here. We cannot accommodate them all. I am tired of paying for the health care and education of the children of nannies and gardeners of the 1%. We don't have enough public housing. Low skilled jobs are being automated. We need to hit the pause button on immigration.

Illegal Immigration is unmercifully turning many people into Trump Republicans. The Democratic party used to stand for the average American, for my young great granddaughter's future, now, I just can not get past their cause for more illegal immigrants. It will not matter their cause for the environment, for good government, for they are importing thieves and criminals who steal our resources and our identity, drive a car drunk, with no license or insurance, i.e. no fault insurance. Many of the people who advocate for pulling more people into America are the people whose families are recent, like the last 100 years, immigrants. It seems as if they want America to be like the places they chose to leave because of the quality of life in their old country. It didn't used to be that way; people used to come to America to start a new life, perhaps with new people, now it is just let's empty out our old town and plop it in America. Make America your old country again.

As usual, you either have an immigration law, or you don't. Your either enforce it, or you don't. No amount of philosophy or pleasing abstraction will change those truths. People are simply too cowardly to step forward and say that they want open immigration. Instead they talk about "reform", or a "path to citizenship", two bromides that are over 30 years old and getting moldier by the day. We've had them both and they didn't work. It's decision time: either we enforce immigration law with criminal sanctions or we abolish all restrictions and face the consequences.

I respectfully dissent. "…what have they done to earn their citizenship?" I suggest that this is a dishonest question implying that a people do not have the right to determine the qualifications for citizenship in their country, and by extension that any person from anywhere in the world can become a U. S. citizen by merely using that rhetorical device, including for example members of ISIS. . Indeed, the use of the term "my fellow Americans" by someone not an American citizen trivializes the status of American citizenship as well as the efforts of millions of immigrants who have lawfully entered this country an won their hard earned citizenship by passing the Citizenship examination evidencing their knowledge of this country's founding principles and given their solemn oath: ..."I hereby declare, on oath... 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 arms on behalf 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." Mr. Vargas apparently remains in this country in violation of the law. As such, while the Constitution protects his right to voice his opinion, it doesn't convert rhetoric into legal residence much less citizenship.

Well, thank you Mr. Vargas, for contributing to this country - including with your taxes - in spite of all the hoops you have to jump through and despite the mean-spiritedness that some people bring to the conversation. Hat tip...

What a provocative question, "What have they (Americans born here) done to earn their citizenship?" Based on the comments so far, no great answers. Living in a very red state, I myself wonder about citizenship and patriotism. The US has enjoyed undocumented immigrants' service in our armed forces, only to deport them when they leave the service. Serving in a war zone (and sacrificing one's life) in defense of our nation is exponentially more patriotic than flying the US flag from our porches. I get sick of seeing the US flag exhibited by people that do nothing in the service our country, whether that is military service or civil service, paid or unpaid work. Our nation has become not just a bunch of people yelling past each other, but a population that lacks the desire to sacrifice for the common good and is wholly focused on their personal greed.

Bi-partisan mess! Exactly. By using immigrants as pawns in elections, both sides win votes. Why do anything to actually fix the problem. We don't have room for everybody who wants to come, but we must have room for the ones who are here because unemployment is at an all time low. Lets get them documented, figure out the actual right number that can enter legally and then make it impossible to come in illegally. This is America. We could figure it out if we wanted to.

Mr. Vargas is correct to point out the lunacy of birthright citizenship in his answer to the second question: "But for my fellow Americans who happened to be born here - what have they done to earn their citizenship?" Nearly every first world nation has ended birthright citizenship. Virtually all of Europe. Australia. Birthright citizenship in America (guaranteed via the 14th Amendment) was created in 1868 to ensure citizenship for all newly freed slaves. It was not intended for a globalized world of de facto open borders and unlimited immigration, including illegal. Ironic that birthright citizenship, created specifically for African-Americans in the wake of the Civil War, has been used to undermine the advances of African-Americans over the last 50+ years by flooding the nation with economic migrants, who have helped drive down wages and divert & dilute public school funding because of ESL mandates. This is why African-American, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, as leader of President Clinton's Bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform, recommended chain migration reform; reduction of total immigration; and strong enforcement vs illegal immigration. She was acutely aware of the impact of runaway immigration on least vulnerable of her US citizen & legal immigrant constituents. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/citizenship-shouldnt-be-a-birthr...

"But for my fellow Americans who happened to be born here — what have they done to earn their citizenship?" What an entitled attitude. Imagine I live as an illegal guest in a another country, reap the benefits of years of free education and then question whether the hosts deserve their citizenship.

My favorite statement. People that were born here, what have they done to earn their citizenship?

This man is a distinguished journalist and already in his young life has made strong contributions to the conversation America is having with itself. There's always been a fast track to citizenship for exceptional people. I believe this man has earned the right to be on it. Conferring citizenship on such people is not a zero-sum game: Everybody except the haters would benefit.

With this sense of humor and command of English, I'd vote to just grant the guy citizenship and be done with it. How 'bout you folks?

The comments of readers show either ignorance or prejudice. They complain that immigrants are a drain on the economy and deprive "real Americans" of their due. That has been trump's effective message for his hard core followers, but please note that Mr. Vargas brings his tax returns with him. Undocumented workers have to have social security numbers and they pay into social security even though they can never collect benefits; taxes are also withheld from paychecks. They contribute. Further, other than the indigenous Native Americans and the African slaves who were brought here in chains, we are all immigrants and this country was built by and strengthened by immigrants. We no doubt need to change the immigration laws and system, but to suggest we don't need the immigrant work force or that immigrants don't contribute is just wrong. Ask the farm owners around this country who harvests the food on the farms. Ask the hotel owners who cleans the rooms. Even Mar a Lago uses immigrant workers. Immigration is an issue of concern but people need to be informed and not misled by political rhetoric.

Well, at least he was modest in saying he was better than 300 million of us.

"there’s (no) process for people like me to legalize ourselves." Mr. Vargas - that is because your broke the law. Obviously you were unaware of having done so while you were a minor but after you turned 18 you became an adult and thus accountable for being the recipient of unwarranted residency in the United States. Many illegal immigrants are smuggled in by their well-meaning parents. If we allow all such "dreamers" to stay then we are effectively surrendering our ability to manage our own borders and our own country.

I remember reading Mr. Vargas' article in the NYT when he won the Pulitzer prize. I am glad that he has continued to advocate for better treatment of immigrants, despite the considerable risk to himself. There is strength in numbers, and perhaps someday in the future we will see all undocumented workers in this country go on a national strike - leaving crops rotting in the fields indefinitely, building contruction frozen indefinitely, etc. It worked when all women in Iceland went on strike (including from work in the home)--now Iceland has the best gender balance in their governing body of all European countries. And if you organize this, Mr. Vargas, this naturalized citizen will march with you, as I'm sure many others like me will.

It is time for Philippine national Jose Antonio Vargas to be repatriated to his homeland. His charade is becoming quite tiresome.