Illegal Immigration and Why Conservatives Constantly Lose

Michelle Wu

I’ve been thinking for days about this article. I’ve written and re-written my views on this delicate, truly humane issue, trying to phrase my thoughts in a way that didn’t sound heartless or naive. I've been told not to post this particular article because I'll get backlash or get rescinded from college or something. In the end, I have convictions, and if I don't believe in them in front of an audience of disagreement, they're not really convictions at all. I know what I sound like. It’s the quintessential crisis of a moderate conservative: trying to articulate an argument that won’t immediately alienate both sides.

Common-sense conservatives have lost more and more ground over the last decade partly because of an incompetent RNC Communications Department and an impulsive loudmouth in the Oval, but mostly because the left has consistently won the optics game. Democrats have pushed a human-centric, family-focused agenda on illegal immigration that moves and energizes voters to the polls with stories and faces. Republicans talk law enforcement. Republicans have lost on immigration by reducing the heartening story of love and adversity spun by the left into a black-and-white issue. We’ve chosen order over humans. It’s an easily drawn conclusion because it’s true, and I stand behind that, but the uncomfortable nature of such truths are constantly reinforced by the DNC’s vastly superior PR team.

I was going to write a whole article on why conservatives have lost so much ground the last few years, but I’ve realized it isn’t complicated enough to warrant more than a paragraph. Conservatives want to preserve the original values of American society - family and freedom. They’re usually older, inactive on social media, reliant on passing down political affiliation through family rather than outright activism. We’re unable to articulate the importance of these moral imperatives to an increasingly atheist, apathetic, split-second attention-span generation of voters. As the reliable moderate conservative is alienated by unignorable incompetence in the White House or simply starts to die out, so will the Republican party. An influx of young, punchy AOC-types will run conservatives out of American government by the time I get to elected-official age. The 2019 Dems on the debate stage against a single federally-mandated healthcare plan for every American regardless of healthcare needs will be the new right. Sure, vox populi, vox Dei, but I’m repulsed by the thought. It’s even more frustrating as a young, agnostic conservative because I truly believe my impressionable peers could appreciate these basic values if the right would take Jesus’s dick out of their mouths for just one second and focus on expanding the party.

That’s the problem, though. Even if conservatives run strictly on the economy, small government, individualism over groupthink, and true equality, the left has already won. They’re the humanity party. They care. The logic of the right will always be outweighed by the emotional appeal of the left. Even I find myself compelled by the thirty-second spot of crying children on Twitter. That’s what it’s for. Anecdote is powerful, and it makes abstraction seem cruel in comparison. But sometimes, most times, abstraction is the only way to effectively govern. Just last week I made the case for remembering the real working people elected officials swear to serve. Loyalty to your constituents above all else is the most important trait in government, but at the federal level, where the needs of the people are diverse and the issues complex, logic must win over emotion.

Illegal immigration is a prime example of where our hearts have overtaken our heads. What is the law? Why do we have it? The law is a set of directives that decide what American society is like. We have the law to ensure the safety of Americans and the betterment of our nation. What happens when someone breaks the law? They threaten the wellbeing of Americans, and so they are punished in accordance with our justice system. Therefore, illegal immigrants should not be allowed into America. They should be pursued and punished because they broke the law. Is it harsh? It sounds terribly mean as I’m writing it, but honestly, I don’t think it is. The law is the law. The law is necessary to prevent chaos and violence. Anyone who breaks the law should be rightfully punished.

If you disagree with this, you disagree with the law. That’s valid, but then your mission should be to change the fundamental law, not soften the enforcement of it. Democrats won’t campaign for that. Even Senator Bernie Sanders has come out publicly against open borders for its detrimental economic effects, and you really can’t go much further left than that branch of the party. Instead, the left compromises the integrity of government itself for votes, even encouraging illegal immigration through programs such as DACA and sanctuary cities. Oh, if I bring my kids on a trip across the border I’ll be eligible for a work permit? Better round them up, endanger their lives on a long, difficult journey, and take them to San Francisco, then.

I don’t like to publicly support the President himself because God, just what an immoral person. His illegal immigration policies have been PR nightmares - the wall, the separation of families, and the concentration camps of migrant children. They’re inhumane, and the left milked these mistakes to tune of a fifty percent increase in Hispanic turnout in 2018. But illegal immigration is at an all-time low in the last decade, according to Pew Research. President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration has prevented crime, crime being the breaking of a law. Probably not a win for the party in terms of new support, but that’s effective governance by the Republicans and the Obama administration as well. The Democrats don’t tout President Obama’s record because that’s bad politics. Republicans tout President Trump’s because it’s a rare valid achievement in the midst of a struggling administration.

The Democrats can’t win on numbers or values, so they’ve created values of their own. Illegal immigrants come to America to escape dire situations. They want better lives for their families. We need to help them. We don’t live up to the whole “give me your tired, your poor” schtick if we don’t let them settle with no consequences. First of all, why are you taking orders from a statue the French sent us? Second of all, those immigrants who are truly in danger can apply for asylum. That’s legal. That’s goodwill. Otherwise, there are Americans also seeking better lives for their families who need the attention of our government. The left has somehow convinced Americans that we can solve the issues of illegal immigrants when we haven’t even solved our own. I recently heard a podcast host ranting, frustrated that the right complains about illegal immigrants while refusing to address the real reasons these migrants are fleeing to America in the first place. What? Whether it be lack of economic opportunity, gang violence, or unstable government, none of that is America’s issue to address. This strange liberal fantasy that our government must solve every country’s problems to solve our own is unrealistic and just stupid.

I don’t hate immigrants. (Ok, I have a spiel about anti-culture and assimilation, but I’ll save that one for later.) My parents are immigrants. My dearest friends are immigrants or directly related to immigrants. They worked hard to come here and worked harder to make it here, and I’m many-lifetimes grateful to them. But that’s just it, they struggled and overcame to prove themselves as assets to this country. They are the best of the best because that’s what America deserves. They came legally. Immigrants who try to get around the system invalidate my parents’ struggle. I can’t accept that. It really is simple to me. Come here legally, and the country will welcome you. Try to take shortcuts, and feel the full force of the law.

But Michelle, don’t you know it could take years to come to America legally? Don’t you know all this immigration can cause brain drain from home countries? I agree the process should be expedited for some groups. Highly sought-after professionals don’t face as strenuous a process, and I’m glad to have more of such intelligent, talented people in my country. As an American citizen, brain drain really doesn’t concern me. Nobody is forcing these grown adults with high levels of education and autonomy over their own lives to seek opportunity and apply for American visas. It takes a particular brand of arrogance to claim you know what’s best for people more than people know for themselves, and it’s this attitude that has dictated Democrats’ public policy for decades.

I’ve reached the end, and I’ve stopped caring if I sound heartless. These are my morals. I was raised to respect the law. As a principled person, I should stand firm on those principles. However, open-mindedness is essential for improvement and a trait I think many of my conservative peers lack. If anyone can show me the injustice of the law against illegal immigration, I hope to engage a discussion. I’d also be happy to see statistics on how illegal immigration and not enforcing the law helps Americans specifically. Humanity and assistance to people around the world is laudable. Humanity and assistance to Americans by the American government, however, is foremost.

- MW