Immigration reform has become a third rail issue in American politics, probably more so than any other issue in recent years. The Establishment and special interests have successfully divided the nation into the two extreme groups: open borders and amnesty, and deportation and zero immigration. The real problem is that we have allowed the Establishment and special interests to convince us that there is only one immigration problem that can only be fixed by one comprehensive plan. The seven principles that will solve our immigration problems: respect for God-given human dignity, protects the immediate families, respects the rule of law, secures national borders, ensures fairness for taxpayers, establishes a work permit for immigrant workers, and strengthens American assimilation and citizenship.

Every human was created in the image of God and has a divinely inspired human dignity that no other creature on Earth possesses. America is the city on a hill, a beacon for hope and liberty. Our immigration system should be proud of our heritage of freedom and celebrate the fact that there are people all over the world that want to live and work in our country. We should be a welcoming open and free society to all who want to contribute to our civil society, and who are willing to learn our language and culture. As a sovereign nation, we have an interest to ensure that the immigrants coming to America are not violent criminals or terrorists, but we should not create a system that punishes the law-abiding immigrants.

The family is the foundation of any flourishing free society and we should welcome immediate families to America. It is within the immediate family unit where children, including immigrant children, learn the moral values by which to live. We cannot break up that foundation of civil society. However, chain migration is an abuse of the protection of keeping families united together, which is why this principle does not go any further than the immediate family members. Any family members outside the immediate family will have to go through the immigration system themselves.

The backbone of every free and open society is the rule of law. We must have a political system and a civil government that respects the rule of law. Our political leaders in Washington need to stop listening to the special interests and enforce all the immigration laws equally. The United States government should not pick and choose who the laws apply. In a self-governing civil society, we are to have an independent and blind justice system that applies laws equally. If those in government do not respect the rule of law, our civil society will collapse on itself.

We live in a broken and sinful world. There are violent criminals and terrorists that would stop and nothing to do harm to people in free and open societies. Therefore, America has a national security imperative to guarantee that her national borders are secured. As a sovereign nation, America has every right and a responsibility to know who is attempting to enter our country. It will take the American people to elect leaders who will have the political will to secure the borders and enforce the law to ensure that America remains a safe, secure, and free nation.

Any immigration system that we have must be fair for American taxpayers. For starters, immigration reform should not create an immigration program and call it reform, if all it does is throw money at the problem. All increased government spending does is put America closer to having to raise taxes to pay for more government spending. Education is the prime example of government throwing good money after a broken system, and expecting a different result. The same goes for the issue of immigration reform. The other solution is to ensure that we have an immigration system that is fair to all taxpayers by replacing the current tax code with either Herman Cain’s 999 Plan or the FairTax. Replacing the current broken tax code with the 999 Plan or the FairTax will force every individual that purchases something to pay their fair share of taxes, including illegal immigrants.

For the illegal immigrants who are already in the country, and if they are not a violent criminal or a terrorist, we should establish a free market, private sector-based temporary work permit. This temporary work permit does not put them on a path to citizenship. All it does is allow them to legally work in the United States and legally contribute to American society. If the only law that the immigrants broke was coming here illegally or overstaying their visas, but other than that are law abiding, then I think those immigrants should experience the consequences for breaking that law, but also be allowed to legally work temporarily in the country if they so choose.

The final principle of real immigration reform strengthens American assimilation and citizenship for those immigrants who want to seek permanent residency in the United States. If immigrants are serious about seeking permanent residency or citizenship, then they should be willing to travel back home and get in the back of the line to patiently wait to become American citizens. We should streamline the system and make it more efficient, so that it is more inviting than coming to America illegally. Immigrants seeking American citizenship should also be required to continue to learn English, and learn American history and culture. America is a diverse society with many cultures, but one of the reasons that make America exceptional is that our many cultures have decided to melt together into one American culture. We are a people with different backgrounds with one set of American values.