Latin Catholic by birth, Byzantine Catholic by the grace of God.
Pro: Restoration of the Holy and Universal Christian Roman Empire.
Caveat: The author makes no claim to being an exemplar of Catholicism or Monarchism (or blogging).
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Location: Upstate, New York, United States

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Want to live here? Earn it

Much hullaballoo recently about immigration.

Setting aside business greed for cheap labor, low Anglo population growth due to abortion, the open secret that Mexico wants the Southwest back, and the inability of a heterogeneous democracy to make clear decisions, we are left with the problem of modern notions of citizenship.

As previously outlined in this space, at this point, "United States of America" is simply the fourth line on a person's address, little more. Very few of any ideology believe that legal status should involve substance: religion, language, etc. Thus the bottom line that anyone who happens to be here is by rights American.

We could discuss why a religiously and linguistically homogeneous society is more desirable (and safer), but these arguments should be familiar to anyone who frequents the blogosphere.

With a largely unremovable block of 12 million illegal immigrants and the lack of will to do anything about it, perhaps we should consider a multi-tiered approach to citizenship. For example, we could have guest status, residency, and citizenship.

Guests would retain the rights of the average foreign tourist or green card carrier. A guest could file for residency for their children, who upon turning 18 would be given residency. Residents would retain all the priviledges of citizens, without the ability to vote, hold public office, or otherwise take part in public life. After maybe three generations, and proving English literacy (and Catholicism, if we could muster the public to support this), the resident could become a citizen, which they could pass on to their heirs.

Would you hand the keys of your house over to someone you just met, or take the counsel of the newest hire when making decisions for a family business?

From Deuteronomy:

3 The Ammonite and the Moabite, even after the tenth generation shall not enter into the church of the Lord for ever ... 7 Thou shalt not abhor the Edomite, because he is thy brother: nor the Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land. 8 They that are born of them, in the third generation shall enter into the church of the Lord.

We could, in the spirit of New Covenant charity, allow even Ammonites and Moabites to become U.S. citizens, eventually.

The point here is that some peoples are friends and cousins, some can become so, and others are just too alien to acculturate, or not good for the mix. And those that do join us need to prove their commitment.

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