“Demography is destiny,” the old axiom says, and the national debate about immigration, and especially illegal immigration, has now hit home here in Washington State. What is the identity of our state? For decades, the issue of immigration was largely relegated to the southern border states, and a few other places. But in recent years, Washingtonians now know first-hand how important this issue is.
Local: The City of Seattle
Consider the recent local headline in Seattle. Bipartisan legislation passed in early June will allow the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to begin actively recruiting immigrants who came to the United States illegally as a minor and later applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The program offers temporary protection from deportation for a period of two years. Dreamers who are DACA recipients are not citizens or even permanent residents, but they can apply for work authorization, a social security number, and a driver’s license through the program. The ATF has amended their regulations to allow DACA recipients to carry firearms and ammunition only as part of their official law enforcement duties, but those policies are subject to change, especially under any new presidential administration.
Although children are not held responsible for their parents’ decision to illegally immigrate their family to the U.S., it does not change the fact that as these individuals reached adulthood, they lived in willful violation of our laws and sovereignty. The irony of this legislation, as Jason Rantz of KTTH points out, is that immigrants who entered and lived in this nation illegally for any number of years will now be tasked with enforcing our laws and maintaining order in our communities. Every police officer should have a deep respect for the laws of this nation and their enforcement, and the question must be asked: do illegal immigrants?
This local policy, however, brings us to the larger issue of illegal immigration in our state and nation
State: The Evergreen State
There are two key facts to know about Washington:
• Out of the 50 states, Washington state ranks ninth in illegal immigration.
• Washington has more than 300,000 illegal immigrants residing in our state.
That 300,000 number is roughly the size of three Everetts, a city on the West Coast with approximately 100,000 residents, filled entirely with illegal immigrants. Needless to say, this level of illegal immigration has a major impact on our culture, our language, our customs, our social bonding, and it is also putting citizens in danger.
Nation: The United States
The type of mass immigration that Americans are experiencing is unprecedented in history. Never before in history have so many people moved into any country in such a short amount of time. Harvard scholar Samuel Huntington, in this book on the crisis of national identity entitled Who Are We?, says: Some 34 million Europeans arrived in 104 years — from 1820 to 1924. But in recent times, more than 35 million new immigrants have arrived in 40 years — from 1965 to 2005. Compare the difference of essentially: 34 million in 100 years vs. 35 million in 40 years. Immigration expert Roy Beck comments on the recent influx, “It is the numerical equivalent of having relocated within our borders the entire present population of all Central American countries.”
For more recent times, look at both the norther border as well as the southern border: “In May, 18,644 foreign nationals were apprehended illegally entering the U.S. at the northern border, the highest total for the month of May in recorded history,” the Center Square reported. “Border Patrol agents at the northern border are also apprehending the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs). In the first six months of fiscal 2024, they apprehended 143 KSTs, including an Iranian with terrorist ties.”
There has been an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration not just in the north, but especially along our southern border. There are over 11 million immigrants illegally residing in the United States as a whole, says “the official view.” But many other scholars, including a study from Yale University, suggest the number is far greater, if not at least double that at 22 million or more illegals. Such mass immigration has a profound impact upon a nation. A record-breaking estimate of over two million illegal border crossings have occurred per year since 2021. Illegal immigration is disastrously impacting our crime levels, the education system, the drug crisis, the integrity of our elections, and our cities’ resources.
“The federal government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reports that more than 70,000 illegal immigrants were taken into custody by its Enforcement and Removal Operations in Fiscal Year 2023 because they had criminal convictions or pending charges in the U.S.—in addition to 100,000 who it arrested for breaking immigration laws such as overstaying a visa, or being wanted criminals in other countries,” the Daily Wire reported.
It’s time to wake up to the damage that is being done by illegal immigration in our nation. National unity and our national identity are at stake. In Federalist No. 2, Founding Father John Jay gives gratitude to God that Americans were:
one united people—a people [1] descended from the same ancestors, [2] speaking the same language, [3] professing the same religion, [4] attached to the same principles of government, [5] very similar in their manners and customs, and [6] who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established their general liberty and independence.
We sympathize with those seeking refuge in our nation, but there are proper channels established in our immigration system for those in danger to come to the United States legally. Making exceptions for illegal immigrants does a disservice to every immigrant who has gone through the proper channels to become a legal resident or citizen. We respect the rule of law, and we respect the efforts legal immigrants have made to become a contributing member of society. We urge Washington officials to take immediate action to protect residents of our state from the dangers of illegal immigration.
This issue is important to us at FPIW, and we hope you share our sincere passion in defending and advancing Biblical and conservative values in the public square.
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