McFall’s rebuttal on Jordan's unclear position on Immigration reform.

“McFall” is in reference to the building, which initially held the library at Bowling Green State University. On the side of the building, it states; "Read not to confute nor to believe and take for granted, but to weigh and consider". I have to say after reading the position taken by Rep Jordan, it has caused me to weigh and consider. Rep. Jordan I am sure you need to get out, meet some new people, and see what you are up against with this overly simple statement. The subject of Immigration reform is a topic very important to the country and to me, because of my work experience; I have had many contacts with people who are on both sides of the documented and undocumented status; It is important to provide an education to the constituency of the fourth congressional district. Let’s face it; the fourth district is not a melting pot of varying backgrounds. From your congressional web page, I examined your position on Immigration reform and found it, well, less than enlightened. The position reads: “I am steadfastly against illegal immigration and amnesty for illegal immigrants. My strategy for dealing with the many problems posted by illegal immigration is threefold: secure the border, robustly enforce our immigration laws and fix the system so that it works for those who want to come to our country legally—by working hard, learning the language and becoming Americans. Our country has always been a nation of immigrants. In large part, this is what has made us great, but illegal immigration is unfair to the many people from around the world who want to come to the United States legally, as well as being a serious threat to our homeland security.” I came up with the main points of this article watching fireworks over Grand Lake St Marys, Ohio. I finished returning home from San Francisco. From your web statement, its evident it is not consistent with the reality of how our country really works and operates. Steadfastly against illegal immigration and securing our borders: Can I ask you who makes your dinner at a restaurant in DC? Can I ask about the status of your lawn service or office cleaning personnel? What about the factory worker who assembled your car seat cushion? How about the nice Asian women in the Nail Salons? Maybe look at the people cleaning up or travelers aides (Sky Caps) at the airports in DC, either Dulles or Reagan? Can you really say ALL of those people are legal? Can you say that they all have valid work permits or Green cards? I am going to say chances are against their papers being “in order?” Being steadfast versus undocumented immigration and securing the border are just words from someone who has not been there (meaning all the borders) or worked with people from both sides of ALL our borders (meaning air sea or land). Building a fence along the southern border does not help. General George S Patton said (I am paraphrasing); “If anything created by nature can be overcome, then any thing built by man can be overcome”. So can a big fence or more secure border patrol stop them from coming? Quoting comedian George Lopez who asked; “You want to build a fence along the southern border, who you going to get to build it? George then has his stagehands cue Mariachi Music. The southern border is not the only border we have to worry about. Rep. Jordan can you tell the people of the fourth District why we have several hundred US Customs Agents stationed in Port Clinton Ohio? I certainly can, it is because since Prohibition, Lake Erie has been host for many successful undocumented boat crossings, focusing upon that “secure fence line” on the US Southern Border will not do it. Securing a sea or air border has never been done. I have to ask, so if we are not going to pardon the estimated 11 million that are here, that has to be a conservative figure at best, how are we going to send these multitudes back to their countries of citizen ship? Who is going to pay for it? they certainly are not. How are we going to find them? They do not all come from Latin America either; they are from Canada, Asia, Africa and Europe. The diplomatic pressures from their home countries would be a nightmare. Undocumented workers do not just stay here for good. I have met people who were Undocumented’s in the USA and returned home. No, they did not return because they were forced to or a fence kept them out but because the treatment of undocumented workers by employers here who exploited them. Having a guest worker program would be a terrific step in solving the abuse and issues of undocumented aliens here in the USA; it would protect them and us. Our country has had a very good history of abuse of new arrivals both here and in our protectorates abroad. Here is some homework for the fourth district. Let us tell the district about the “guest worker” program or “foreign contract workers” in the Northern Mariana Islands, a United States commonwealth based in Saipan? Saipan had a guest worker program. When you read about the “economic experiment” in Saipan and the “Guest Worker Program”, it was more like harsh indentured servitude. There were major abuses. See http://pidp.org/archive/1999/February/02-01-04.html A guest worker program in the model of Saipan is not the legacy I want for this country. It certainly doesn’t keep to “give me your tired your poor your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Robustly enforce our immigration laws and fix the system so that it works for those who want to come to our country legally. Have you ever talked to the day laborers hanging out at the big box hard ware stores in the early morning in DC or any other big city in the USA? Let us save that for later shall we. What first hand experience do you have with immigration? Have you been through the process of filling out the forms and reading through the myriad of rules and process flows that USCIS requires to get your loved one a green card? I have done it for my wife and have had co-workers endure it as well. Its one of the more challenging and confusing processes there is. It screams for reform! My wife and I both have college degrees, I work in a regulatory, and compliance field, she is a former Administrative Assistant at a University, we both found it difficult. Coming to the USA Legally. Rep Jordan do you realize how political this beast of a process the USCIS has become? I have ancestors who came here before this was a country. I am a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. I have an ancestor who lost her whole family on a "coffin ship" escaping the Irish Potato Famine at the age of 2 and half years. Those folks coming pretty much had a rubber stamp in coming there. No one stopped those folks from coming. Then as now, there were opposition groups back then, the copperheads, the know-nothings to day we have the minutemen. This is an argument as old as this country is. I doubt that “secure border scenario” will stop those wanting to come here at any cost. The only difference between you, me, versus the people trying to come here now is that our ancestors were here already or WHERE you came from. My ex father law showed me his fathers visa when he crossed the border in 1923. The fee was less than 10 dollars. Now when you witness workers coming to the USA from Mexico to work is an everyday journey across a border in many towns, I have commuted with them it takes a lot of effort and paperwork just to be able to make that commute. The same goes for Canada. Getting the documentation from both governments is not an easy task; you have to have a lot of financial and corporate support to do it. I had a Mexican Technical Work Visa for 3 years called an FM-3. I had to have sponsorship from a Mexican Based Firm the Letters had to be so many days old, in original ink and I had to visit their consulate in Houston Texas to do it. The amount of effort we had to go through to get my wife’s credentials was far tougher. Prior to my arranging a fiancée visa for my wife, neither she nor my new brother in law (a policeman in the Philippines) could even come visit this country on a tourist visa? Why could they not come? According to the US Embassy, they did not own a home or have the equivalent of $5000 US Dollars in the bank long term. That is more than a year’s salary for most people from her country. My wife’s fiancée visa and green card cost around $2400 in fees. Yet any applicant for a student or tourist visa from China, Russia, or Eastern Europe can come here with little problems. If you are Cuban, once you reach the shores you practically get your green card. However, I do see our Government trying making this attractive and profitable for the country. I still receive emails from the USCIS. In fact last week was the deadline for a special price for 1 year ($35 for a single person), 2 year ($55), 3 year ($65 VIP Status) $55 for 1 year family rate. This is a special Visa lottery for 100000 winning applications. I wonder what the odds are. OK Rep Jordan now is where you start to preach "family values and wave the flag". By working hard, learning the language and becoming Americans. If you want to see great family values, spend time with my wife’s family in the Philippines. Go to a Quinceañera (Latin Sweet Fifteen Debutante Party), an Asian American Dinner or better yet a Mexican wedding, it does not get any closer to family values than with those families. By the way, the Mexican Wedding Receptions last until breakfast is served the next morning with the family. You speak of learning the language of our country that is like the tail trying to wag the dog. Do we have an official language? The last time I looked the US official language was, cue sound of birds chirping. Hello 4th district, we do not have an official language. We have a defacto / pseudo official language but not one mandated by law. Our government operates in English and Spanish that is it. In my mid twenties, I decided to teach my self Latin American Spanish. For an Anglo from west central Ohio, I do OK. My motivations for learning Spanish were more self -centered at the time but as I have found working in industry later in life having a second language that it actually used by a large population in North America helps a great deal. Currently, I am trying to learn Tagalog (one of the Philippines two official languages, English being the other) which is one of my wife's THREE languages. If you have children teaching them German, Spanish, Mandarin, or Japanese pays off later in life financially. Immigration has made this country what it is. I can agree to a point, however as I have stated before undocumented immigration is more of a crime versus those undocumented who come here by less than getting an invitation. In a Bloomberg feature, See Bloomberg Video Immigrants Give More to Medicare... but Take Less S Fu, May 31 2013. Undocumented Immigrants use little of the benefits that they are paying into Social Security or Medicare. Many pay cash for healthcare here. Undocumented’s cannot be concerned with Social Security and Medicare as they like most of us in our 30’s and 40’s; they know they’ll get zip in the end. Health Benefits are the least of those undocumented people’s problems when they come here. Many are abused or enslaved by their employers. A properly defined guest worker program (unlike the aforementioned Saipan Guest Worker program) is unavoidable in our times. It will protect us domestically and those undocumented alike. Having a clear path towards citizenship and making the dream accessible to all who can contribute, we need brick masons just as badly as we need engineers, is not a lot to ask. Like many of my ancestors and other recent arrivals, undocumented’s have come here in the past decade and watched their children go off and serve our country in Iraq and Afghanistan and earn that passport. Rep. Jordan if you want to spare your self the effort of writing in your usual “family values” clause in this bill just vote for the bill, you won’t need to. Because not only do these immigrants have better family values than some existing citizens of the fourth district do. They are coming here for the most part, THE RIGHT REASONS! WORKING HARD, SAVING AND SENDING MONEY HOME. Mexico’s #4-revenue stream after Oil, Industry and tourism are funds coming from overseas workers. The reason why I asked earlier about talking to the day laborers in the morning. Ask them what their motivation is for being there. These folks want to earn a living and are doing it the only way they can. They are not asking for a hand out either. If you want to, we can go hang out some morning in a metropolitan area and talk to the day laborers. I will try to interpret and bring the eggs and chorizo tortillas for breakfast.