To the Editor:

As we confront America’s immigration debate, I have been deeply disappointed to see such inaction on behalf of our elected officials. It seems that, in the interest of votes and political correctness, legislators are refusing to establish or enforce reasonable immigration policies for our country. In the absence of leadership, American citizens are having to once again step up to the plate and shoulder the financial, environmental, and social burdens created by millions of DREAMers and other immigrants.

The questions of diversity, ethnicity, and racism are not the actual issues at hand. America is a nation founded on the ideals of equality and multiculturalism. However, it is also a nation of laws – a nation where all have equal opportunity, provided they are legal citizens who contribute with their tax dollars in order to participate in all the freedoms the U.S. has to offer. It is also a nation already overwhelmed by too many people, unable to accommodate the sheer volume of our existing population. This means we must address our current policies on legal immigration and net migration.

The vast majority of population growth in the U.S. is a result of immigration. To protect our current quality of life, we must reduce immigration levels. This is not the time to let the open-border advocates, cheap labor lobby, or special interest groups determine the course of our future. We have serious problems, and we must take definitive action. The present state of our nation requires legislation containing: deportation for any illegal immigrant in our country, mandatory E-Verify for all employers and heavy penalties for knowingly hiring illegal workers, strengthened border controls, and strict limits on new legal immigration numbers.

Until we reduce our population to a sustainable level, the emotional debates encircling immigration are moot. We must unite in the spirit of simple facts – our national and state budgets cannot accommodate even basic infrastructure, our natural resources are depleted to the point of critical shortages, and our environment is being demolished before our eyes. Continuing on our current path will prove disastrous to future generations of Americans.

More citizens must speak out and demand Congress shape strong, fair immigration policy that puts our national interest first. No one can afford to sit on the sidelines on this issue.

Sincerely,