Hayden Collins

The freedoms we enjoy and the liberty we have to enjoy them draw people from many countries to the U.S., seeking a better life for themselves and their families.  Immigrants have provided valuable skills and labor from the earliest days of this country, but effective government relied then – as it does today – on immigration control.

Immigration issues involve federal responsibility for national security and protecting our borders, as well as the states’ needs to properly allocate resources.  Currently, Arizona is the frontline for these issues, with uncontrolled borders giving access for illegal immigration, and the state being impacted by increased demands for a variety of government and civic services without a commensurate increase in normal tax revenues that legal wage-earners would contribute.

Georgia addressed a similar situation in recent years, in response to concern about employment opportunities going to illegal workers – and the state passed some of the toughest immigration laws in the country. 

But we also have a process for immigrants to become legal residents.  This process works: I have a brother-in-law from Australia and a sister-in-law from Peru who have gone through the process and taken the test to become U.S. citizens.  And those who have followed the lawful procedure are even more aggravated than some who were born in the U.S. at the many examples of individuals who refuse to obey the law, and yet the government allows them to prosper here.

We could tell ourselves that Arizona’s struggles are not our problem in Georgia, but history shows that isolationism doesn’t work; I saw for myself the failure of Communism’s attempt to uphold the separation of the Berlin Wall.  If Arizona fails, we all fail.  Our economic challenges are increasing, and we need everyone to pull together to make it through them.

There are unmatched opportunities in the United States, and there is a legal process for immigrants to participate in them.  Immigration does work, and my own family members have set an example.  Doing it the right way, is doing it the right way.