If America Is Oppressive, Why Come Here?      

Commentary

Every year, many immigrants come to the United States with varying types of visitor status. Some come on business, student, or tourist visas, all of which must be renewed at specific times. These guests dream of experiencing America or pursuing their own dreams.

If a visa isn’t extended, then the guest must return to his country of origin. However, it doesn’t make sense to deport those who are undergoing the legal renewal process or have applied for permanent residency, unless they commit a crime or their visas have limited duration. Some overstay their visas and disappear into the shadows, which can be highly concerning, as their intentions are unknown.

There are also folks who sneak into our country unlawfully or are poorly vetted at the border because of a lack of proper documents. They often depress American wages and latch on to a variety of social services. Fortunately, there has been a huge reduction in this type of migrant because border security has been beefed up, coupled with a robust interior deportation process.

Lax immigration enforcement in a prior administration has been replaced with prioritizing citizens and legal immigrants over illegal aliens.

Over the years, millions of immigrants have come to our shores with various motivations, and they obviously carry facets of their original cultures with them. This can be a positive for America if the values they bring align with the principles of hard work, responsible liberty, personal responsibility, and the rule of law.

Some immigrants arrive expecting to receive a range of “free” social services. Of course, there are no free lunches. Taxpayers have to fund these dependency-inducing social services. Some ungrateful legal and unlawful immigrants learn to game the system and take from society without contributing to its betterment.

Not all immigrants come to America from democratic nations. Large numbers have arrived from authoritarian or even totalitarian societies and merely want to contribute to our country.

Conversely, some think that they have to get entangled in driver’s license, education, food, housing, marriage, medical, or other fraud in order to survive. In the United States, it’s unnecessary to trick people to ascend the ladder of upward mobility.

In many countries, folks have no choice but to comply with mandates that dictate how they live their lives. Consequently, they carry an authoritarian streak into the United States and throw their weight around because of a lack of awareness of well-ordered liberty. In America, people have choices as to how they manage their lives.

Why come to the United States if you think it is oppressive or merely a place to pilfer funds from hardworking taxpayers?

If America Is Terrible, Why Not Leave?

Obviously, there are many citizens and legal immigrants who assimilate, care about this country, and invest in its improvement. However, there is a growing number of citizens and legal immigrants who believe that the United States is a terrible place, and they have embraced a misnamed entity called the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Many of these avowed socialists are educated but are underemployed because they feel entitled to dictate terms to their employers. The college majors they chose don’t align well with the competitive, meritocratic labor standards of the real economy.

These socialists rail against capitalism and believe that it is oppressive and exists only for the privileged. However, many in the movement not only benefit from capitalism but actually practice it through revenue-producing podcasts and social media platforms.

So why the disconnect? Well, they might have contempt for those who are truly productive and create jobs, or they might hope to dismantle corporations and coerce them into submitting to the state’s edicts.

What’s the point of DSA politicians running for political office if they want to overhaul time-tested civic institutions?

Some in the DSA movement also promote violent actions and speech in order to transform nearly every traditional institution in the private and public sectors. Unfortunately, they lack a credible plan to replace this wrecking ball with effective entities.

They haven’t absorbed the lessons of the last century that none of the numerous iterations of socialism have worked, no matter how persistently these models have been rolled out. They also turn a blind eye to the 100 million victims of communism/socialism.

The DSA’s primary mission is a gargantuan government that crowds out economic productivity in an effort to allegedly help the middle class and the poor. Where will the money to fund their leviathan come from?

An escalating regulatory and tax burden will fuel debt and disincentivize business and employment growth, which, in turn, will reduce tax revenue available to fund programs. This regressive playbook is riddled with contradictions.

If America is so terrible, why do these folks stay here and not muster the courage to depart for the authoritarian regimes they seem to admire?

Perhaps it’s because they’ve taken their blessings for granted and don’t realize how fortunate they are to live in a country of limitless possibilities, or they are aware that in undemocratic regimes, free speech is highly restricted. There are some who fervently desire to undermine the country that has given them so much.

Far too many on the left have ignored President John F. Kennedy’s sage advice: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.