Columbus Dispatch Op-Ed: Stronger security ensures lawful access to the American Dream

My father, a once-distinguished and decorated Indian Navy officer, legally immigrated to America with my mother and brother, holding me in one hand and $80 in the other. He cleaned hotel rooms, moonlighted as a security guard and worked 100-hour weeks for seven years straight so he and his children could fully embrace the American Dream.

Because of him, I have lived and continue to live the American Dream. But that dream is under assault as Democrats are undermining and destroying America’s border and national security. They attack President Donald Trump daily and threaten to shut down Immigration & Customs Enforcement.

For a party that claims to hate the idea of a wall, they really love to stonewall. This only encourages more illegal border crossings, drug smuggling, human trafficking and identity theft.

Many illegal immigrants risk their lives to enter the country, live in overcrowded housing, buy forged documents, steal identities, occupy lower-paying jobs and lack eligibility for any type of public pension or Medicare. Others are criminals engaged in human trafficking, victimization of Americans or attempt to cross the border with lethal drugs. This is not the American Dream: it’s a security nightmare.

We are being challenged by Democrats who refuse to believe that they have a moral obligation to protect the dignity and safety of Americans, national security and the rule of law. A country without legal citizenship or borders is a conquered nation.

Security must be the federal government’s first priority. The American Dream is believing it is possible for anyone to start at the bottom and rise. This means equal opportunity to attain success through hard work — not equal beginnings or equal outcomes. You can’t achieve this political and economic freedom without abiding by the rule of law.

America provides opportunities for immigration through various routes, including education, work and humanitarian protection. However, entry is a privilege, not a right. Democrats are incentivizing illegal immigrants to disregard the laws and either live in the shadows or become dependents of the system. This is a handout of second-class citizenship as they lack equal opportunities such as complete access to education, health care, financial independence and basic liberties, such as voting. This is a path to achieve second-class citizenship, not American prosperity. Success is attained through legal immigration which allows equal access to financial, social and economic welfare.

As the lack of success for illegal immigrants continues to grow, citizens are also facing a threat to the American Dream. In February alone, more than 76,000 migrants were apprehended — the most in the past 10 years. We acknowledged the same crisis during President Barack Obama’s tenure in 2014 when the surge of migrants was much smaller. In addition to the influx of illegals, Border Patrol seized 827,000 pounds of drugs, including more than 100,000 pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl. The only difference today is we have succumbed to Democrats’ failure to recognize that the humanitarian crisis is increasing at an alarming rate.

They are deliberately ignoring the data and disregarding expert testimony due to their myopic goal of defeating the president.

This stalemate must end for the sake of both citizens and immigrants. The president is requesting common-sense solutions: security measures such as technology for drug, weapon and contraband detection, more agents and judges, humanitarian assistance and a physical barrier. All these solutions are striving not only to protect Americans but provide for safe and legal passage for immigrants who want to achieve the American Dream.

This is not about winning or losing — the immigration debate is about the revival and preservation of the American Dream. As my father traveled in the Navy to all parts of Asia, Europe and the old Soviet Union, he shared that he immigrated legally to American for the vast access to liberties, securities and opportunities it offered. Legal immigration is the only way for immigrants to achieve the American Dream. Anything short of this is robbing immigrants of our nation’s most basic promise: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.