Immigration: What Bus Are You On?

There are an estimated 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the US today.   Out of that number, approximately 8 million are working and contributing into our economy.  This reduced figure takes into account young people who are attending school, elderly who are not working and stay-at-home parents caring for small children.

The US Senate passed their version of immigration reform, but the US House of Representatives has been unable to reach any common ground regarding immigration reform to date.  The House of Representatives is not interested in offering any type of “amnesty” to those people in the US in undocumented status, since that would appear to be rewarding people for coming to the US in illegal ways.  The House of Representatives also has not been in favor of offering a pathway to US citizenship.  Some argue that this may be because the Republican Party is fearful that the new citizens might not vote Republican. 

In an effort to meet on a common ground regarding immigration reform in the House, proponents offered an incredibly mild legalization proposal.  The Proposal:  A Bill offering a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrant children, who were brought to the US as children, through no fault of their own, provided that they agree to/or have served in our US military.  The thought behind this proposal was, “Who would oppose legalizing children who have been educated in the US, have lived the majority of their lives in the US and who want to join and serve in our military?”

U.S. Representative Steve King (R-Iowa) responded with the comment that the right thing to tell illegal immigrants who want to enlist in our U.S. Army is: “We have a bus for you to Tijuana.”

This incredibly discriminatory statement defies the fact that only approximately 58% of undocumented immigrants in the US are from Mexico, which leaves another 42 % of undocumented immigrants in the US from other countries around the world.  It is estimated that there may be 21% from other Latin American countries, 13% from Asia, 6% from Europe and Canada and 2% from Africa and other parts of the world. 

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, the U.S. Army’s top officer, said the US military should have at least 450,000 active-duty soldiers or it may not be able to adequately respond to conflicts around the world.

He also indicated that U.S. Army’s minimum end-strength should be 980,000 soldiers, including at least 450,000 in the active component, 335,000 in the National Guard and 195,000 in the Reserve. The service requested authorization for almost 1.1 million soldiers according to fiscal 2014 budget documents.

But the service’s active-duty component is slated to shrink, possibly to as low as 420,000 soldiers over the next several years, under automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. Odierno said such reductions would make the military “too small.” Military.com

What do you think?  The American people hold the purse strings to Congress.  Would the US economy survive if 8 million workers left our workforce?  Is this a way to recruit more active duty military?  The American people have a voice and it is responsibility to speak up and let our Representatives know our position on immigration reform.