Immigration control is the government's duty

Letter to the Editor:

A recent guest article in your paper chastised small government conservatives for ‘expanding government’ in an attempt to slow/control immigration by enforcing the lawsalready in place.

First. it must be noted that ‘immigration matters’ are one of the few duties assigned to and allowed the federal government by the U.S. Constitution. It has been estimated that nearly 80 percent of what the federal government is now doing is not constitutional and therefore it shouldn’t be doing it. Controlling/monitoring immigration/foreign worker matters is one of the few things the federal government should be funded to do.

Second, the author consistently omits one very important word in his discussion of the benefits of immigrants. That word is legal. The U.S. has always welcomed legal immigrants but what is occurring now is unprecedented - flooding our nation with illegals. Up to this point in history, the constitutionally mandated control of incoming people has been rightly overseen by the federal government ... now they are failing miserably.

Third, U.S. immigration has always followed periods of influx (of legal immigrants) with periods of pause - when few if any are allowed in. This is for good reason. It’s called assimilation.

The author seems not to understand that constitutionally, the federal government’s duties are few and enumerated, small in number and carefully defined. It is not an ‘expansion’ of government when that government is performing the duties it is allowed by the Constitution

C.A. Disney,

Libby.