It is so annoying what foreigners have to go through to get their green cards and citizenship here in the USA. It is a pain in the neck, and just not fair. America needs lots of new blood, and there is no reason why the immigration process shouldn’t be a whole lot easier. On the converse side, I am upset that the USA gives citizenship to people who refuse to blend in at all. Sure, it is natural that we prefer to socialize with people from our own group. But, does that mean immigrants and their children should have a strictly enforced policy of excluding people who are not like them? America lets in many people who refuse to interact with others. Koreans are typical examples of this. Even their English speaking children often refuse to socialize with anyone who is not Korean or Korean-American. If America accepts them, why can’t they accept America and those who live here who don’t look exactly like them?
Immigration for work vs. immigration for joining our nation
Most people come to the United States as immigrants seeking a brighter future, or perhaps as refugees. Some are looking for money, some are coming to escape the social restrictions of their motherlands, while others come because they like it here and like the people. I feel that someone who comes to America, lives here for 20 years, gets their citizenship, and still calls themselves “Chinese” — not “Chinese-American,” but just “Chinese” should not be given American citizenship. American citizenship should be reserved for people who really want to be American in my opinion. Sure, it is okay if they still love the culture from their country of origin. That is not a problem. But, if they don’t identify themselves as a part of a whole, then they are more of an invader than an immigrant. Think about it!
Immigration for work — a new system
For those who don’t want to join our happy family, we still need them and they still need us. It makes sense to create special economic zones in strategically located parts of the USA. I am not smart enough to figure out where these areas should be. But, these special areas should allow anyone from anywhere in the world to come and work with no special paperwork. It would be a little like Dubai, except that people would be allowed to come for a few months to look for work. In Dubai, you often have to already have a job to be allowed in the country. There would be no minimum wage, so we could compete economically with foreign countries. There would be very low taxes to attract international businesses. These zones would be a place where it is easy to get started, and anyone can make it. There would be schools for each language group in the zone as well. Immigrants to this area would not be given citizenship no matter how long they stayed in the zone. However, as long as they were working, they could stay. Their children would be schooled in the language of the motherland because they would be expected to leave after they were done with however long they wanted to work.
America loves to let workers in our country. We love giving them citizenship after a while too. The problem is that their children are not always as good workers as their immigrant parents who risked their lives to come here. Their children and grandchildren often have significantly higher crime rates as well. The economic zone idea solves this problem. Since nobody is given citizenship there, the minute you or your children cause trouble — out you go. No paying $45,000 per year of tax payer money to keep someone locked up. Let their home country worry about that instead.
Immigration for joining our nation
When my ancestors came to the United States, they mostly already knew English and joined mainstream society right away. Immigrants coming these days are more like invaders. They come in huge groups, they continue speaking their language, and generally don’t want anything to do with anyone who is not part of their group. Not everybody is like this, but the majority are: and it is un-American! If immigrants want to come to join our wonderful nation, they should want to fit in to a particular extent. When I went to India, Taiwan, France, and other countries, I didn’t hide in a cultural bubble. I mixed with whomever I met and behaved like a member of humanity. I propose having an assimilation program
The assimilation program (proposed)
Since most immigrants are extremely opposed to having anything to do with assimilated Americans, by requiring an assimilation program, those not interested in mingling with the locals would weed themselves out and not come here. But, for those who really do want to interact with “real” Americans (whatever that means,) here is my idea. Every American is a descendant of immigrants. The oldest group of Americans are Native Americans. But, even the natives came from Siberia or perhaps on a boat from the Pacific Islands at one point in time. The next oldest group of Americans are those that came in the 16 or 1700’s such as many of the Blacks and Southern Whites. The Hispanics with ancestry in New Mexico also have a four or five hundred year lineage in the land which is currently the United States. I would define someone who is purely American as someone having all of their ancestors being here for at least seven generations, and having their cultural identification being purely associated with the United States. Even fourth generation Americans still have a moderate connection with their countries of origin.
The assimilation program would have friendship programs between immigrants and Americans with long lineages in the United States. The purpose of this would be to fully integrate people into mainstream society before they were given citizenship instead of waiting for five or six generations to have their descendants integrate. Participants might live with families, or engage in regular social activities. I’m not sure how the program would find Americans who would want to socialize with strangers without being paid. But, if people could be paired with others who they liked a lot, then the program might be very successful. The program might also involved living in communities where there was no presence of the immigrant’s national group, making it a place where they would have to assimilate fast. Language training would be another important facet of the program.
On the other hand, after several years of this program, the Americans would probably become expert at making tamales and egg chow foon. It is unclear who would be assimilating to whom, unless the people chosen for the program were Americans with absolutely no interest in foreign cultures — but, why would such people volunteer for such a program if they were so closed to foreign culture? A paradox is unveiled.